The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday issued an emergency use authorization for what it said is the first device that can detect COVID-19 in breath samples.
The InspectIR COVID-19 Breathalyzer is about the size of a piece of carry-on luggage, the FDA said, and can be used in doctor’s offices, hospitals and mobile testing sites. The test, which can provide results in less than three minutes, must be carried out under the supervision of a licensed health care provider.
Dr. Jeff Shuren, director of the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health, called the device “yet another example of the rapid innovation occurring with diagnostic tests for COVID-19.”
The FDA said the device was 91.2% accurate at identifying positive test samples and 99.3% accurate at identifying negative test samples.
“InspectIR expects to be able to produce approximately 100 instruments per week, which can each be used to evaluate approximately 160 samples per day,” the agency said. “At this level of production, testing capacity using the InspectIR COVID-19 Breathalyzer is expected to increase by approximately 64,000 samples per month.”
The head of Russia's space agency said Monday that the Luna-25 spacecraft crashed into the moon after its engines failed to shut down correctly, and he blamed the country's decades-long pause in lunar exploration for the mishap.
The managers of the Panama Canal said they expect income from the waterway to drop after authorities were forced to limit the number of ships passing through each to 32 due to a lack of rainfall.
A new scientific study published Thursday suggests the world should start preparing to protect the ecosystems that emerge from under the disappearing ice, as a warming planet is inevitably causing glaciers to melt.
Oetzi the Iceman has a new look. Decades after the famous glacier mummy was discovered in the Italian Alps, scientists have dug back into his DNA to paint a better picture of the ancient hunter.
Astor Apiaries' Nick Hoefly is an expert on honey bees and, of course, honey. Cheddar News' Michelle Castillo checked out the hives to learn everything you ever wanted to know about honey ahead of Bee's Knees Week.
Nick Hoefly of Astor Apiaries explains the importance of bees for our ecosystem and talks to Cheddar News' Michelle Castillo about what you can do if you're nervous around them.
