Pharynx gargle samples are suitable for SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic use and save personal protective equipment and swabs

To the Editor-First described in China in December 2019, novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), which causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), has spread globally.Europe is now an epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic.To bring the epidemic under control, laboratory testing for SARS-CoV-2 is essential to diagnose and isolate infected people and subsequently trace their contacts.Public health agencies recommend rapid initial testing by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) from upper respiratory (nasopharyngeal or oropharyngeal) specimens in ambulatory patients.1,2 SARS-CoV-2 replicates in the throat and the lung, and throat samples have a sufficient sensitivity in the first episode