TABLE 2.
Stability of refrigerated SARS-CoV-2 RNA detected by the Quest EUA rRT-PCRa
| Medium or sample type | Detectorb | Mean CT (SD) of 5 refrigerated (2 to 8°C) specimens on day: |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 10 | 14 | ||
| UTM | N1 | 31.8 (0.2) | 31.8 (0.2) | 31.8 (0.4) | 31.9 (0.6) | 32.2 (0.4) | 32.1 (0.3) |
| N3 | 31.3 (0.4) | 31.3 (0.4) | 31.1 (0.5) | 31.0 (0.5) | 31.6 (0.4) | 31.4 (0.4) | |
| UTM-RT | N1 | 31.8 (0.3) | 31.4 (0.3) | 32.1 (0.1) | 31.1 (1.8) | 32.5 (0.2) | 32.1 (0.3) |
| N3 | 31.2 (0.4) | 30.8 (0.4) | 31.3 (0.2) | 30.4 (1.7) | 31.6 (0.1) | 31.4 (0.3) | |
| ESwab | N1 | 31.7 (0.4) | 31.9 (0.3) | 31.7 (0.2) | 31.8 (0.3) | 31.7 (0.4) | 31.8 (0.4) |
| N3 | 31.3 (0.3) | 31.0 (0.4) | 30.7 (0.2) | 30.7 (0.3) | 30.8 (0.4) | 31.2 (0.4) | |
| M4 | N1 | 31.8 (0.2) | 31.7 (0.3) | 32.0 (0.4) | 31.5 (1.5) | 31.8 (0.5) | 31.9 (0.2) |
| N3 | 31.3 (0.4) | 31.0 (0.3) | 31.1 (0.3) | 30.7 (1.2) | 31.3 (0.6) | 31.3 (0.3) | |
| Saline | N1 | 29.2 (0.7) | 30.1 (0.2) | 30.0 (0.4) | 30.1 (1.7) | 30.4 (1.2) | 31.3 (0.4)c |
| N3 | 28.4 (0.6) | 28.9 (0.2) | 29.0 (0.5) | 28.9 (1.4) | 29.4 (1.0) | 30.5 (0.4)c | |
| BAL fluid | N1 | 31.8 (0.2) | 32.2 (0.6) | 31.0 (1.4) | 32.5 (0.1) | 32.1 (0.6) | 32.4 (0.7) |
| N3 | 31.8 (0.2) | 32.2 (0.6) | 31.0 (1.4) | 32.5 (0.1) | 32.1 (0.6) | 31.5 (0.5) | |
| Sputum | N1 | 31.4 (0.5) | 31.4 (0.5) | 31.8 (0.6) | 32.1 (0.5) | 32.1 (0.4) | 32.2 (0.7) |
| N3 | 30.8 (0.6) | 30.7 (0.9) | 31.0 (0.4) | 31.0 (0.4) | 31.8 (0.6) | 31.6 (0.8) | |
a
Testing was performed at QDID. Five replicates were assayed by rRT-PCR under the indicated conditions.
b
N1 and N3 TaqMan probes were as described in the Quest Diagnostics EUA package insert.
c
Increase of >2 CTs from day 0.