Israeli companies Next-Gen & Scentech Medical are working together to provide a breath analyzer that can detect the coronavirus in less than a minute; The machine will work similarly to a breathalyzer; Its ability to produce immediate results will play a significant role in reopening the economy and travel.

As first reported by the Jerusalem Post, the Institutional Review Board in Israel has approved the testing of a new device that is reported to be able to diagnose the coronavirus in less than one minute. The device works like a breathalyzer that law enforcement and first responders use, able to detect traces of the virus in someone’s breath.

Israel’s Next-Gen & Scentech Medical are working together in the development of this product that is critical in speeding up the process of testing people, as well as reopening the economy and travel. Next-Gen’s chairman, Shulam Lapidot, emphasized this truth, stating, “A quick and simple diagnostic test can be done anywhere, from airports, hotels, tourist sites, and soccer stadiums. Our success will help the community and the economy get back to full activity and to their normal routines as quickly as possible.”

Currently, the device is being tested on people with different extremes of the coronavirus at Meir Medical Center in Kfar Saba, Israel.

Medical Director of Scentech Medical, Dr. Udi Cantor stated, “It’s a revolutionary technology which places the diagnostic field at the early stages of identifying various states of sicknesses, thus contributing to the quality of treatment, reducing the damage caused by said sicknesses, and enabling high chances of recovery.”

The companies believe that one of the major benefits to this kind of testing is its ability to identify asymptomatic individuals and those in the early stages of the virus, giving faster direction for quarantine strategy.