“CURRENT UPDATES ON DIAGNOSTIC METHODS AVAILABLE FOR COVID-19 INFECTION”

The abrupt pandemic set off by the novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) has caused severe chaos among people worldwide. ‘‘SARS-CoV2’’, a previously unknown strain of coronaviruses caused a severe respiratory disease called Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) which emerged from Wuhan city of China on 30 December 2019 and declared as Universal health problem by the World Health Organisation in a month. COVID-19 has created panic, and scientists are urged to test the efficiency and safety of drugs used to treat this disease. Various diagnostic kits to test for COVID-19 are available, and repurposing therapeutics for COVID-19 has shown to be clinically effective). In the analytic stage, real-time reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) assays remain the molecular test of choice for the etiologic diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection while antibody-based techniques are being introduced as supplemental tools. In the post-analytical stage, testing results should be cautiously interpreted using both molecular and serological findings. This review discusses the updates on specimens/samples and recent efficient diagnostics to control the disease. It covers the latest issues and challenges for the laboratory diagnosis of infections caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).