Authorities in Singapore have provisionally approved a COVID-19 breathalyser test developed by Breathonix, a spin-off company from the National University of Singapore (NUS), that aims to show whether someone is infected with the COVID-19 in under a minute, Reuters news agency reported on Monday.

Breathonix said it is now working with the health ministry to run a deployment trial of the technology at one of the city-state's border points with Malaysia.

Reportedly, the company's system uses disposable mouthpieces and is designed to ensure there is no cross-contamination. After blowing into the device, the technology assesses the chemical compounds of the breath to determine whether or not a person is infected.

Any individual screened as positive will need to undergo a confirmatory polymerase chain reaction (PCR) COVID-19 swab test, the company said.

The Health Sciences Authority's website confirmed the approval, which the company said was the first such system to secure provisional authorisation in Singapore.

Breathonix added that it is in discussion with several local and overseas organisations to use the system, citing strong commercial interest.