Function, Development and Challenges of COVID-19 Diagnostic Methods in Two Areas: RT-PCR Tests and Serology Tests

The ongoing outbreaks of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has led to a worldwide pandemic of Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) in 2019. Nucleic Acid Tests as the current most prevalent method are able to detect the presence of SARS-CoV-2 from infected patients by comparing target viral genome sequences in high sensitivity and accuracy. Three widely applied nucleic acid methods for clinical and research purpose including RT-PCR tests, LAMP and CRISPR-Cas based detection are introduced firstly, followed by the discussion of Antibody Tests, which are ICG and CL immunoassay tests.These two fields of COVID-19 diagnostic methods exhibit some advantages and drawbacks depending on various clinical settings. Antibody test is supplementary and complementary of other diagnostic methods while Nucleic acid tests are overall effectively and rapidly to diagnose infected patients for immediate treatment and isolation. The combination of these two methods may eventually control the dissemination of COVID-19 pandemic.