Takara Bio's saliva-based coronavirus test to allow samples taken at home

TOKYO -- Takara Bio will release a coronavirus test in Japan as early as this month that uses saliva, enabling samples to be taken from home in what could be a major step toward increased testing and improved health care worker safety.

Current tests require mucus from the nose and throat be collected by trained healthcare workers for PCR testing. The ease of the new test will be useful when gathering samples from millions of people.