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Canadians weigh in on best ways to spit for new COVID Rapid Test

CALGARY, AB, Aug. 22, 2022 – If you had to spit right now, would you know how to? A recent survey of 1000 Canadians by Rapid Test & Trace Canada shows that many of Canadians (65.2%) either aren’t sure or do not find it ‘easy to produce spit.’ 57.2% say they prefer the new spit test for COVID rapid testing over a traditional swab test.

As the first company to offer the PCL at-home spit test for COVID in Canada, Rapid Test & Trace Canada commissioned the spit survey to see how Canadians feel about the newest option for testing.

How to spit like a cowboy (a step-by-step guide):

Rapid Test & Trace Canada called in the ‘big guns’ to help confused Canadians effectively spit for the new tests by producing a ‘spit like a cowboy’ video and developing a step-by-step spiting guide:

DON’T kiss your dog or smoke or brush your teeth … prepare your mouth for a clean test by NOT contaminating your saliva.
Produce some spit! Methods include massaging the outside of your cheeks, thinking of your favourite meal or something sour like lemons or, as one Canadian strangely suggested in the survey, ‘thinking of ABBA.’
Purse your lips (nobody wants a misfire!)
Spit (with intention) into the COVID test tube and fill to the line.
Follow the rest of the rapid test instructions and get a positive or negative reading.

“Our survey also found that 52.4% of Canadians think that spitting is gross,” said Sandy White, Co-founder of Rapid Test & Trace Canada. “But with over half of Canadians saying they’d prefer the new spit test to the swab test; it also looks like the nation is ready to put our rapid test trust in a new kind of test.”