Plan from Hamilton researchers aims to help province test 8 times more COVID samples

Using flocked swabs and a specially made liquid to transport the samples, Bulir, Dr. MarekSmiejaand the rest of the team will take equal portions of samples and extract the genetic material. They place it all into a machine and researchers input how many samples they want grouped at once. Then the machine completes the tests.

The idea relies on the assumption that most results come back negative. If a batch comes back positive, the team would test all of those individual samples to determine which sample or samples are positive.

"If we know there were 100 samples and four are positive, out of the 25 pools, only four of those 25 positive should have been positive, so then we would go back and test those 16 samples. So you'd only have 41 tests instead of 100."

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But he noted combining samples isn't ideal in all circumstances.

"If a ward is on an outbreak right now you might actually just want to test everyone because there's a good chance if you combine three samples, every one in three would be positive,"he explained.

"But if you have a nursing home that's already been screened negative, you have a very low risk that someone is going to be positive inthereso for ongoing testing you could maybe combine four or five."