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. 2020 Jul 23;58(8):e00708-20. doi: 10.1128/JCM.00708-20

TABLE 1.

Stability of room temperature SARS-CoV-2 RNA detected by the Quest EUA rRT-PCRa

Medium or sample type Detectorb Mean CT (SD) of 5 specimens at room temp (18 to 26°C) on day:
0 2 3 5 7
UTM N1 31.8 (0.2) 31.6 (0.4) 31.6 (0.3) 31.6 (0.4) 31.5 (0.8)
N3 31.3 (0.4) 30.8 (0.2) 30.8 (0.5) 30.8 (0.4) 30.7 (0.7)
UTM-RT N1 31.8 (0.3) 31.6 (0.3) 31.3 (0.2) 31.9 (0.4) 33.1 (0.4)
N3 31.2 (0.4) 30.8 (0.3) 31.0 (0.2) 31.1 (0.3) 32.2 (0.4)
ESwab N1 31.7 (0.4) 32.0 (0.4) 31.9 (0.5) 31.9 (0.4) 32.6 (1.0)
N3 31.3 (0.3) 31.1 (0.2) 30.9 (0.3) 31.0 (0.3) 31.6 (0.7)
M4 N1 31.8 (0.2) 32.1 (0.4) 31.5 (0.2) 32.4 (0.5) 32.6 (0.6)
N3 31.3 (0.4) 31.2 (0.4) 31.0 (0.1) 31.2 (0.2) 31.6 (0.4)
Saline N1 29.2 (0.7) 29.9 (0.3) 30.3 (0.1) 30.7 (0.3) 31.1 (0.3)
N3 28.4 (0.6) 29.1 (0.2) 29.5 (0.1) 29.9 (0.5) 30.0 (0.2)
BAL fluid N1 31.8 (0.2) 31.5 (0.2) 32.2 (0.5) 31.4 (0.3) 32.4 (0.4)
N3 31.1 (0.2) 30.8 (0.2) 31.2 (0.4) 30.6 (0.3) 31.2 (0.4)
Sputum N1 31.4 (0.5) 31.8 (0.6) 32.1 (0.4) 31.8 (0.4) 32.1 (0.3)
N3 30.8 (0.6) 31.1 (0.7) 31.1 (0.5) 30.8 (0.3) 31.1 (0.3)
a

Testing was performed at QDID. Five replicates were assayed by rRT-PCR under the indicated conditions. UTM, medium for clinical specimens containing viruses, chlamydiae, mycoplasma, or ureaplasma; UTM-RT, universal transport medium for viruses, mycoplasma, and ureaplasma.

b

N1 and N3 TaqMan probes were as described in the Quest Diagnostics EUA package insert.