The FDA authorizes the first test that detects COVID-19 through breath

By Phil HelselNBC

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized this Thursday the first COVID-19 test based on breath samples.

The InspectIR COVID-19 breath test must be administered by a trained operator,

, the FDA said.

The test detects chemicals associated with the virus that causes illness in a breath sample and if positive, it should be supplemented with a molecular test, the agency said in a statement.

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A nursing station at Helen Keller Hospital in Sheffield, Alabama, on March 7, 2022. David Goldman / AP

"Today's authorization is yet another example of rapid innovation in diagnostic tests for COVID-19," Dr. Jeff Shuren, director of the FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health, said in a statement.

The equipment used for

Other tests for COVID-19 use swabs to swab the nose or throat.

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The polymerase chain reaction test, better known as PCR, is considered the most accurate, but there are also rapid tests, some of which can be done at home.

The United States is experiencing a wave of cases of the BA.2 omicron subvariant.

it accounts for about 86% of cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

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Although hospitalizations for COVID-19 in the country are at an all-time low, the average number of daily cases has risen 9% in the past two weeks, according to a count from our sister network NBC News.

Many experts agree that the true scale of the spread of the virus is much larger, because not all infections are recorded.

There have been more than

, according to NBC News' tally.

"It is necessary".

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While rules on wearing masks have been relaxed or eliminated entirely in many areas of the country, federal requirements for their use on planes, trains and other transit systems have been extended through May.

The CDC on Wednesday pointed to the rise in COVID-19 cases as one of the reasons for extending the mask mandate through May.

On Monday, Philadelphia became the first major city to reinstate mandatory indoor mask wearing, following a spike in infections.