The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a worldwide shortage of nasopharyngeal swabs and universal transport media. This study evaluated a combined oropharynx/nares (OP/Na) sample collection using two readily-available non-flocked swabs, transported in phosphate-buffered saline, and demonstrates equivalent performance in SARS-CoV-2 detection compared to a previously-validated OP/Na collection kit.
Glenn Patriquin, Ian Davis, Charles Heinstein, Jimmy MacDonald, Todd F Hatchette, and Jason J LeBlanc.
Division of Microbiology, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Nova Scotia Health Authority (NSHA), Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada; Departments of Pathology, Medicine, and Microbiology and Immuno... more logy, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Electronic address: glenn.patriquin@nshealth.ca. less