Enhanced throughput of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) real-time RT-PCR panel by assay multiplexing and specimen pooling

•Multiplex real-time RT-PCR assay for SARS-CoV-2 was developed and validated.•Multiplex and singleplex assays showed comparable performance.•Four-sample pools showed high agreement with individually tested samples.•Multiplexing and pooling substantially increase SARS-CoV-2 test throughput.