Method Found To Accurately Detect COVID-19 From Mobile Phone Swabs: Study

COVID-19 Test: The new method, described in the journal eLife on Tuesday, detected the COVID-19 virus on the phones of 81 to 100 per cent of contagious people with a high viral load, suggesting it is as accurate as antigen tests.

Researchers have developed a non-invasive and low-cost method that can accurately and rapidly detect COVID-19 using samples taken from the screens of smartphones. The researchers from University College London (UCL) in the UK analysed swabs from mobile screens rather than directly from people using the method known as Phone Screen Testing (PoST). They found that people who tested positive by the regular nasal swabbing PCR test were also positive when samples were taken from smartphone screens. The new method, described in the journal eLife on Tuesday, detected the COVID-19 virus on the phones of 81 to 100 per cent of contagious people with a high viral load, suggesting it is as accurate as antigen tests.