Massively scaled-up testing for SARS-CoV-2 RNA via next-generation sequencing of pooled and barcoded nasal and saliva samples

Asymptomatic and presymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infectivity makes molecular screening important for pandemic control. RT-qPCR capacity, result delays, RNA extraction, and approximately US$100 test costs limited widespread regular testing. SwabSeq uses pooled next-generation sequencing with barcoded nasal or saliva samples and synthetic RNA standards to run extraction-free testing with qPCR-comparable performance, under-24-hour turnaround, and more than 80,000 returned results.