Even as state and local governments continue to buy traditional coronavirus testing kits that rely on nasopharyngeal swabs, major research universities and their private-sector partners are trying to leapfrog ahead to the next generation of tests. (Washington Post)

Health officials on the North Olympic Peninsula also have deployed a patient-collected nasal swab that does not require a heath care worker to insert a nasopharyngeal swab into the back of a person’s nasal cavity. (Sequim Gazette)

We found it performs as well as, and in a number of cases better, than the nasopharyngeal swab, said lead researcher Anne Wyllie, an associate research scientist at the Yale School of Public Health in New Haven, Conn. "We have another very viable option." (WebMD)