Holding your breath for 50 seconds means you are not infected with COVID-19.

Holding your breath for 50 seconds cannot verify whether you are infected with COVID-19, because even if someone is infected, they may still be able to hold their breath.

The 50-second breath-holding test proves nothing; it cannot confirm the presence or absence of any disease. It may reflect lung capacity to some extent, but it does not carry the same clinical significance as pulmonary function tests measuring actual lung capacity.

When patients with COVID-19 pneumonia reach a point where breathing becomes restricted, this usually indicates a severe case of the disease—such patients clearly do not require this kind of test for diagnosis. On the other hand, healthy individuals who can hold their breath for 50 seconds still cannot rule out having contracted the novel coronavirus. Mild cases of COVID-19 that have not yet affected the lungs may also be able to achieve this duration.

Currently, the standard for screening COVID-19 infection relies primarily on clinical evaluation of symptoms and signs, along with nucleic acid testing. Using self-measured breath-holding time as evidence for determining whether someone is infected with the virus generally contradicts medical principles. If a person develops symptoms similar to the common cold—such as fever, fatigue, dizziness, or headache—they should visit a hospital for nucleic acid testing to determine whether they are infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Nucleic acid testing is a professional method for detecting the presence of the virus. If a patient is infected, the test result is typically positive.