Comparing Nasopharyngeal and Midturbinate Nasal Swab Testing for the Identification of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2

Abstract

Testing of paired midturbinate (MT) nasal and nasopharyngeal (NP) swabs, collected by trained personnel from 40 patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), showed that more NP (76/95 [80%]) than MT swabs tested positive (61/95 [64%]) (P =. 02). Among samples collected a week after study enrollment, fewer MT than NP samples were positive (45% vs 76%; P =. 001).