Could your face mask detect COVID?

Whenever there is a question in a headline the answer is always no... but perhaps in the future.

Tiny sensors incorporated into wearable fabrics like masks and jackets could provide instant information on exposure to disease-causing pathogens such as the coronavirus, according to research published in the journal Nature Biotechnology.

What kind of instant information, and why are fabrics optimal?

If you want to study if a virus is in the air, then test the air.

What kind of instant information, and why are fabrics optimal?

As written in the article at least the presence or absence of the pathogen according to the limits of detection of the test, and fabrics are the obvious choice to incorporate sensors that would work better if a large contact surface is necessary.

If you want to study if a virus is in the air, then test the air.

That is what is being done with the technology of the masks, testing the air that is more likely to be contaminated if the person is infected. For the Jackets it is clearly written that the test is for liquid exposure.