Japan allows saliva-based coronavirus tests

TOKYO (Reuters) – The Japanese Health Ministry said on Tuesday it now allow saliva-based coronavirus tests, to help boost the number of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests.

Currently, nasal swabs are mainly used for tests in Japan, and sneezes at the time of collecting samples expose medical workers to the risk of potential infection.

Reporting by Kiyoshi Takenaka; Editing by Kim Coghill

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source: reuters.com