The unpleasant nature of a COVID-19 test is enough to make some people flinch. Others can't help but scream. A Dutch inventor is testing a possible new way to screen for coronavirus infections.
The method being trialed in the Netherlands requires people to let out a shout or a song inside an airlocked cabin to give Peter Van Wees, the inventor of the QuBA breath analyzer, enough potential germs to test for COVID-19. "If you are spreading, and yelling, and screaming, you're spreading tens of thousands of particles which contain coronavirus," says Van Wees.
An industrial air purifier creates a whirlwind in the booth and collects particles to be analyzed. "If someone is infectious with the coronavirus, the numbers of that specific diameter will go way up," says Van Wees.
Three minutes after he hollered, Ismael James got some good news. He's told it's not COVID, just a cold.
Amsterdam resident Soraya Assoud says, "It's always very nice to scream, when nobody can hear you though. And I think it's a good way of meditation as well."
The ear-piercing technique is still being perfected. Until then, they'll keep crying out for some COVID therapy.
The creator of the QuBA breath analyzer hopes the machine could one day be used as a potential screening tool at concerts, airports, and offices.