FDA Approves Saliva Test for COVID-19

The cost of the test could help save college football season, along with other sports and the rest of us as well.

As reported here by Commodore Country in an article published on Saturday, two coaches speaking on the promise of anonymity shared that the potential costs of testing for COVID-19 coronavirus was a primary reason that multiple conferences chose to cancel their college football seasons. 

However, according to a series of tweets from Andy Slavitt, who served as a former Acting Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) under the Obama administration, there's hope for reducing those costs for the conferences still attempting to play this season. 

According to Slavitt's tweets, the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) on Saturday approved a saliva test to detect the presence of COVID-19 in test subjects. The test is reportedly somewhere in the $15 range compared to the previously used tests that cost between $75-$85 per unit. 

These cost savings could be a game-changer, not only because of cost savings but because these tests work with saliva as compared to the previous test that needed to be inserted deep into the nostrils of the test subject, an uncomfortable process I'm told. 

Here is the tweet from Slavitt, who can explain this better than I. 

Slavitt provided much more here, and you can read his comments in their entirety at the link here. 

These tests could indeed be a game-changer for athletics this season and for us all in the future. 

Follow Greg on Twitter @GregAriasSports and @SIVanderbilt or Facebook at Vanderbilt Commodores-Maven.