The NBA has helped to fund the development of a new COVID-19 saliva test. Former healthcare head Andy Slavitt took to Twitter on Saturday to break down why that’s huge news for fighting the pandemic.

This is potentially huge news for college sports, in addition to society at large. A cheap, efficient, accurate saliva test with a quick turnaround time would help universities mitigate testing costs and more accurately have the latest information on player health.

In fact, one team doctor texted Sports Illustrated’s Ross Dellenger this weekend, calling the potential new saliva test a “game changer”:

https://twitter.com/RossDellenger/status/1294687795655606273

It’s newly breaking information like this that makes many question why the Big Ten and Pac-12 decided to cancel their fall seasons so soon. If this test can be developed quickly and distributed to the masses, it seems as though college sports could be played even more safely.

This news will be something to follow moving forward, for sure.