COVID-19 Screening Program

Participants will be instructed on how to inactivate the virus and bring their sample to their laboratory's central PCR machine, where they will take an assay test. They will be instructed to collect saliva into a 1.5 milliliter (mL) collection tube containing inactivation buffer (TCEP and EDTA) using a small funnel and inactivate at 95°C for 10 minutes. Participants will then transfer 6ul of saliva into 2 PCR tubes containing amplification master mix and primers, put tubes in a heat block or PCR machine at 65°C for 45 minutes and assess fluorescence using a simple battery-powered fluorescence viewer. Once they assess their sample, they will be instructed to dispose of the saliva sample safely and in accordance with best laboratory practices. No saliva samples will be collected by the research team at any time as part of this study.