Non-invasive skin swab tests can quickly detect COVID-19: study

Non-invasive skin swab samples may be enough to detect the novel coronavirus quickly, according to a study published in the E Clinical Medicine journal.

Researchers at the University of Surrey in the U.K. noted that COVID-19 pandemic has led to an unprecedented demand for testing — for diagnosis and prognosis — as well as for investigation into the impact of the disease on the host metabolism. Sampling sebum — an oily, waxy substance produced by the body's sebaceous glands — has the potential to support both needs by looking at what the virus does to us, rather than looking for the virus itself, they said.