If you're in Vancouver and need to get tested for COVID-19, you no longer have to have a swab thrust deep into your nasal cavity.
A saline gargle test is now widely available in the Vancouver Coastal Health region, as well as at COVID-19 collection sites across the Lower Mainland.
Back in September, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry unveiled the less-invasive test as an option for school-aged children and youth.
“You put a little bit of normal saline, so sterile water in your mouth, you swish it around a little bit and you spit it into a little tube. And that’s an easier way to collect it for young people,” the doctor explained.
Saline gargle tests for COVID-19 are now available to adults. 🚫 No eating, drinking, smoking or teeth brushing 1 hour...
Posted by Vancouver Coastal Health on Wednesday, November 18, 2020
Those who opt for gargling must not eat, drink, smoke, or brush their teeth in the hour leading up to their test.
Cotton swab nasal tests are still the only option in acute care settings and at family doctors' offices, or for anyone being tested as part of an outbreak.
How to perform the test
A step-by-step guide on how to perform a saline gargle test. Photo: B.C. Centre for Disease Control
