The COVID-19 status of clinical samples used in this work was determined in-house using a multiplex RT-qPCR for the N1, N2, and RP targets. Briefly, 70 or 140 µL of sample was purified using the QIAamp Viral Mini Kit according to the manufacturer's protocol and purified RNA was eluted in either 70 or 140 µL based on CDC recommendations. The multiplexed reaction was performed using the qScript master mix from QuantaBio with N1 and RP primers and probe concentrations of 500 nM and 250 nM (final) and N2 primers and probe concentrations of 2000 nM and 500 nM (final). The probes used were N1-FAM, N2-AlexaFluor594, and RP-Cy5. For each reaction, 5 µL of sample was added to 15 µL of amplification mix. Samples were classified as positive if both N1 and N2 targets were detected with Ct values below 40 cycles. Viral load was determined using a standard curve for the N1 target generated from purified 2019-nCoV_N control plasmid. The SARS-CoV-2 control plasmid from IDT was quantified in-house using the BioRad QX200 Digital Droplet PCR System.