Fig. 1.

SARS-CoV-2 RNA profiles in throat swabs of COVID-19 patients. A Temporal profile of viral load (inversely related to cycle threshold [Ct] value) in all patients (n = 112). Each line represents an individual patient. The thick line shows the trend in viral load using smoothing splines. B SARS-CoV-2 RNA positive rate at different time intervals. C Comparison of peak viral load according to sex. D Relationship between age and peak viral load. E Comparison of peak viral load between mild and severe patients. Results are shown as median and interquartile range; P values were derived from Mann–Whitney U test, or Spearman's test; r values were derived from Spearman's test.