Pooled Sampling is an Efficient and Economical Strategy for SARS-CoV-2 Detection in Low-Prevalence Areas.

Abstract

Corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a severe acute respiratory disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Different pooling testing strategies have been applied for the detection of SARS-CoV-2. However, the discrepancies among different pooling strategies are still to be explored. The aim of this study was to evaluate the two pooling strategies of collecting respiratory specimens for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA. Two groups of five-sample pools were prepared to evaluate the impact of sample pooling and pooled sampling on test sensitivity, respectively. Viral RNA of coronavirus was extracted with the automation system. The N and ORF1ab genes of SARS-CoV-2 RNA were detected with real-time reverse-transcription PCR. The turnaround time of SARS-CoV-2 testing was analyzed before and after the implement of pooled sampling. The pooled sampling displayed advantages in assay sensitivity over the sample pooling. The implementation of pooled sampling significantly shortened the turnaround time of SARS-CoV-2 testing. The pooled sampling is an efficient and economical strategy for SARS-CoV-2 detection during the periods of high screening demand in low-prevalence areas.