Current Status and Future Developments of Laboratory Diagnosis for SARS-CoV-2 Infection

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic was caused by SARS-CoV-2 infection. Accurate and timely laboratory tests for SARS-CoV-2 infection, especially in early stages, will help to control the spread of the virus. At present, real-time RT-PCR (or RT-qPCR) detecting viral RNA genomes is widely used to diagnose SARS-CoV-2 infection from nasopharyngeal swabs. Automated devices for sample processing are available for the large-scale samples for RT-qPCR. Point of care testing detecting viral antigen(s) is used as a simple and inexpensive screening tool for SARS-CoV-2 in settings where RT-qPCR is not available. If necessary, SARS-CoV-2 will be isolated in cultured cells and/or viral genomes will be sequenced to identify the viral variants. Tests for detecting antibodies induced by SARS-CoV-2 infection are performed to identify infected individuals in the population for the epidemiological studies. If needed, neutralization test was conducted to analyze the ability of the antibodies counteracting the virus. More molecular diagnostic tests other than RT-qPCR are also available. Several types of easy-to-obtain specimens other than nasopharyngeal swabs are under investigation. Numerous SARS-CoV-2 variants have emerged since the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak. To combat this mutable virus, innovative diagnostic methods are required. This mini-review article summarized the current status and future developments of laboratory diagnosis for SARS-CoV-2 infection.