COVID-19 diagnosis—myths and protocols

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) belonging to betacoronaviruses, on the basis of sequence analysis, mainly infects the lower respiratory tract in humans while symptoms remain milder than to those of severe acute respiratory syndrome and Middle East respiratory syndrome. The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has surprised the world with its rapid spread and potential virulence by compromising personal safety and economic perspectives. Its clinical diagnosis is mainly based on epidemiologic history, clinical manifestations, and auxiliary examinations including nucleic acid detection, computed tomographic scan, and immune identification technology. However, atypical signs and symptoms in patients and discrepancies in the identification techniques have also become the reason for the spread of the virus. Genetic mutations by the virus or sensitivity/specificity of diagnostic tests are becoming a major issue to report COVID-19. This chapter thus details the available diagnostic tests and their mechanisms and limitations, and finally, the approaches to identify COVID-19 with valid precision are discussed.