Novel Coronavirus: What to Learn from a Microbiologist

Abstract

In December 2019, an outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) was declared in Wuhan, city of China. Later on, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 as a pandemic on March 11, 2020. The clinical course of the disease ranges from asymptomatic cases to fatal severe respiratory illness. Various laboratory tests are available for the diagnosis of disease. The gold standard test is real-time PCR (polymerase chain reaction), whereas antigen testing can be used as a point-of-care test. Antibody detectionby ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) can be used for the surveillance of the immune response.