Latest research says combination of throat and nose swabs provides better COVID-19 rapid test results: Nova Scotia Health
In a Canadian first, Nova Scotia researchers say COVID-19 rapid tests that include both throat and nose swabs provide greater accuracy in detecting the virus.
Up until now, the instructions provided by the manufacture has been for nasal swab only.
Now, based on research led by Nova Scotia Health's microbiology team, public health is recommending Nova Scotians using rapid tests swab both their throat and nose when collecting their sample.
In a release Friday, Nova Scotia Health said its working to update the current testing instructions that people receive when they pick up a rapid test.
The research was prompted by public discussion theorizing that a combined sample may produce more accurate results.
Speaking to CTV Thursday, Dr. Todd Hatchette, the chief of the province’s Division of Microbiology, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, said researchers found using a single swab on a person’s throat first, and then in both nostrils is more effective at detecting Omicron than doing either site alone.
“When we tested just over 1,500 people, we found that either the nose or the throat both detected about 60 per cent of people, but if you did a combined nose / throat, it detected over 82 per cent of people,” said Hatchette.
The research started about a week ago. Officials at the microbiology lab worked with volunteers at the Halifax Convention Centre testing site to collect the data.
In Friday’s release, Nova Scotia Health says collaboration with volunteer-based community rapid testing sites was key to the project’s success and allowed the project to rapidly answer a question that many jurisdictions across the country have been asking.
The investigation compared results of a common rapid take-home test using three sample sites: nasal swab; throat swab and; combined nasal/throat, the release said. All results were confirmed with PCR testing. Compared to PCR test results, samples from nasal or throat swabs each detected 64.5 per cent of cases; however, combining the nose and throat swabs increased sensitivity to 88.7 per cent.
This research project has been submitted for publication.
Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada's chief public health officer, speaking Friday from Ottawa, welcomed the Nova Scotia swab study.
“I’ve asked our laboratory network, our laboratory experts, to take that into account and see whether we can provide some sort of guidance,” Tam said. “But, of course, I think we’ve been discovering that the Omicron variant may be behaving a bit differently to the previous variants, so this approach, this swabbing, might be useful.”
One thing to note, public health is advising that if only one location of the sample is being used, it should be the nasal swab, as the throat swab alone is not as effective as the nasal swab.
Nova Scotia is the first to report research results supporting a combined throat/nose collection method for self-administered rapid antigen tests.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
After 3 months of war, life in Russia has profoundly changed
Three months after the Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, many ordinary Russians are reeling from those blows to their livelihoods and emotions. Moscow's vast shopping malls have turned into eerie expanses of shuttered storefronts once occupied by Western retailers.

EXCLUSIVE | Supreme Court Justice Mahmud Jamal on his journey to Canada’s highest court
Justice Mahmud Jamal sat down with CTV National News' Omar Sachedina for an exclusive interview ahead of the one-year anniversary of his appointment to the Supreme Court of Canada. Jamal is the first person of colour to sit on the highest court in the country, bringing it closer to reflecting the diversity of Canada.
Death toll from Saturday's storm hits 10 across Ontario and Quebec
As the death toll related to the powerful storm that swept Ontario and Quebec on Saturday reached 10 on Monday, some of the hardest-hit communities were still working to take stock of the damage.
'Too many children did not make it home': Anniversary of discovery at Canada's largest residential school
It's been a year since the announcement of the detection of unmarked graves at the site of what was once Canada's largest residential school – an announcement that for many Indigenous survivors was confirmation of what they already knew.
Walk out at trade meeting when Russia spoke 'not one-off,' says trade minister
The United States and four other nations that walked out of an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation group meeting in Bangkok over the weekend underlined their support Monday for host nation Thailand, saying their protest was aimed solely at Russia because of its invasion of Ukraine.
19 charged, including 10 minors, after violent night at Toronto beach
Police say they’ve made 19 arrests and seven officers were injured after a violent night at Toronto’s Woodbine Beach that saw two people shot, one person stabbed, two others robbed at gunpoint and running street battles involving fireworks through Sunday evening.
Monkeypox fears could stigmatize LGBTQ2S+ community, expert says
A theory that the recent outbreak of monkeypox may be tied to sexual activity has put the gay community in an unfortunate position, having fought back against previous and continued stigma around HIV and AIDS, an LGBTQ2+ centre director says.
Hydro damage 'significantly worse' than the ice storm and tornadoes, Hydro Ottawa says
Hydro Ottawa says the damage from Saturday's storm is "simply beyond comprehension", and is "significantly worse" than the 1998 ice storm and the tornadoes that hit the capital three years ago.
Johnny Depp's severed finger story has flaws: surgeon
A hand surgeon testified Monday that Johnny Depp could not have lost the tip of his middle finger the way he told jurors it happened in his civil lawsuit against ex-wife Amber Heard.