By Reese Watterson
It has seemed like such a long time since this pandemic started, but over these past few months our country has made great strides to provide accurate testing for COVID-19. First, there was the very uncomfortable nasal swab test, which you had to travel farther to take and results took a while to receive. Thankfully, now there is a faster and easier saliva test. This has been made and produced at UC Davis, and now it is available to the community and anyone who works in Davis.
This COVID test involves scheduling an appointment beforehand and signing up for a specific time slot, to avoid having too many people there at once. In order for the tests to be accurate, you should not eat or drink for 30 minutes before you arrive – this might be the hardest part of the test! When you get to the testing site, you place water underneath your tongue, don’t swallow it, and then spit it back into a small vial. And that’s it! The space that the test is held in is made to minimize your time out in public, with everyone wearing a mask and staying distanced. The test takes less than 5 minutes per person and the results should be back to you in 24 – 48 hours.
The saliva test has been checked countless times alongside the nasal swab test, and has proven to be nearly identical in results. The time this test takes to come back compared to the nasal swab test, is significantly faster, due to the resources used and the method of detecting the virus. As the saliva test is quick and painless, the City of Davis is encouraging the public to get tested every week. If you are doing any types of youth sports, like AYSO or Davis AquaStarz, or having any interactions with people outside of your household, the saliva test is a good way to insure that you are being safe, cautious and do not have COVID.
