Specimen Requirements

Nasopharyngeal Swab Collection - NPS specimens should be collected according to standard technique and immediately placed in viral transport media (VTM) such as M5 or M4 (available from the AVH Laboratory).

NOTE: only nasopharyngeal specimens are acceptable; testing cannot be performed on sputum, throat or oral swabs.

Minimum Sample Volume - 300 μL of sample is required for testing, placed into container with 3 mL M5 or M4

Transport and Storage - Specimens in VTM should be processed and tested as soon as possible. If storage is required, specimens in VTM can be held at room temperature (18–30 ºC) for up to 4 hours, at refrigerator temperature (2-8 °C) for up to 3 days, or at freezer temperature (≤15 °C) for up to 30 days.