Performance characteristics of "lollipop" swabs for the diagnosis of infection with SARS-CoV-2.

Background: Common biologic samples used to diagnose COVID-19 include nasopharyngeal, nasal, or oropharyngeal swabs, and salivary samples. The performance characteristics of a sucked "lollipop" swab to detect SARS-CoV-2 virus is assessed in four small sub-studies.

Methods: In each sub-study, a flocked swab was sucked for 20 s and submitted for PCR detection of SARS-CoV-2 virus.