Table 3:

Analytical performance results for assessed sample collection techniques

Target	N	Min.	Q1	Mean	STD.	Median	Q3	Max.
RNase P	NP	311	21.12	28.75	29.80	1.90	29.95	30.86	35.28
	SG	308	24.00	27.74	28.71	1.73	28.67	29.90	33.44
	TN	297	25.06	29.11	30.65	2.27	30.74	32.17	38.29
	NP vs. SG Mean Ct Difference				1.0921	p-value		<0.0001
	NP vs. TN Mean Ct Difference				-0.8580	p-value		<0.0001
E gene	NP	148	11.88	15.81	20.05	5.89	18.22	22.35	39.00
	SG	148	14.64	20.84	24.50	4.80	24.32	26.76	38.17
	TN	148	15.25	18.26	21.54	4.55	20.06	23.79	36.15
	NP vs. SG Mean Ct Difference				−4.4047	p-value		<0.0001
	NP vs. TN Mean Ct Difference				−1.5001	p-value		0.0008
RdRp gene	NP	145	13.0	16.2	20.0	5.2	18.2	22.4	39.7
	SG	144	14.8	21.1	24.4	4.1	24.5	27.0	33.1
	TN	144	15.5	18.7	21.8	4.4	20.4	24.3	35.2
	NP vs. SG Mean Ct Difference				-4.4163	p-value		<0.0001
	NP vs. TN Mean Ct Difference				-1.7492	p-value		<0.0001

Note: Buccal-bilateral nares collections are not captured in this table due to low sample sizes

NP = nasopharyngeal swab; SG = saline gargle; TN = throat-bilateral nares