Researchers are currently working to develop a device capable of detecting Covid-19 in exhaled air.

This system would have many advantages: to be tested you simply have to breathe, like in a breathalyzer, and the results are known very quickly.

The first results showed a reliability equivalent to that of conventional PCR tests.

To stem the epidemic, the French government is betting on vaccination (the 20 million people vaccinated milestone was crossed Thursday), but also on screening.

To make the tests easier and faster, researchers in Lyon are working to detect the amount of virus in the air we breathe out.

They have just developed a system that works like a breathalyzer.

>> LIVE

- Coronavirus: follow the evolution of the situation Thursday, April 29

A less painful and faster test

Except that for now, the anti-Covid breathalyzer in question is more the size of a fridge. This is normal, because the device is still an experiment. In any case, as to blow into the balloon, it is necessary here to exhale in a pipe. "You will have to blow steadily, while looking at the arrow which should be in the green, roughly in the middle. I am giving you my starting signal", explains one of the researchers to a patient. "It's very nice. Me, I was asthmatic when I was little, and it reminds me of what happened when I was young for the breath. It's even rather funny", she reacts then, at the microphone. Europe 1. The test is indeed less invasive than the swab used in PCR tests, and it hurts less, according to those who have tried.

>> READ ALSO - Discover the deconfinement in four stages planned by the Élysée

A diagnosis in less than 15 seconds

Another big advantage: saving time.

The result is known very quickly, explains Professor Bruno Lina, virologist in Lyon and member of the scientific committee.

"It takes less than 15 seconds to make the diagnosis. The idea is a system that allows, by mass spectroscopy, to find small components which are microscopic, which are in the exhaled air and which would be the signature of a virus infection, ”he explains.

Conclusion of the experiment planned for the end of June

With this device, we can quickly and massively screen at the entrance of a football stadium, an auditorium or an airport. The hope is therefore immense. For now, the first results have shown a reliability equivalent to that of conventional PCR tests. The conclusions of the experiment should arrive within a few weeks, by the end of June.