Stigmatization, panic disorder, and death anxiety among patients of Covid-19: Fourth wave of pandemic in Pakistan.

BACKGROUND: In Pakistan, the fourth wave of COVID-19 is causing an increasing number of positive cases. This fourth wave may be a risky aspect of mental health issues for COVID-19 patients. This quantitative study is designed to understand the stigmatization, and panic disorder and to explore the mediating role of death anxiety among patients of COVID-19 during the fourth wave of novel coronavirus. METHODS: The study was conducted using a correlational research design. The survey was carried out by utilizing a questionnaire with a convenient sample technique. The sample of the study was comprised of 139 patients with COVID-19. Data were collected through Stigma Scale for Chronic Illnesses (SSCI), The Panic Disorder Severity Scale (PDSS), and Death Anxiety Inventory. RESULTS: Results show that stigma is significantly positively related to panic disorder and death anxiety. Furthermore, panic disorder is also significantly positively related to death anxiety. Results also indicate that stigmatization is a significant positive predictor for death anxiety and panic disorder. Moreover, results indicate that death anxiety has a mediating role in the relationship between stigmatization and panic disorder with age and gender as covariates. CONCLUSION: This study would be helpful for people around the world to understand this threatening contagious virus so they wouldn't stigmatize infected ones. Additional research is required for the sustainable improvement of anxiety over time.

Infant externalizing behavior and parent depressive symptoms: Prospective predictors of parental pandemic related distress.

Understanding predictors and effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic is a top-priority in research endeavors. The impact of COVID-19 on all components of family life and mental health cannot be overstated. This study emphasizes the need to investigate predictors of parents' responses to disaster by conceptualizing the depth of the impact of the pandemic using Bronfenbrenner's Bioecological Systems Model. We evaluate parents of infants as the center of the microsystem and discuss the importance of parents' responses to the pandemic for children's development. Specifically, utilizing a prospective design involving a sample of 105 infant-mother-father triads, we test the predictive effects of mothers' and fathers' mental health and infant externalizing behavior assessed prior to the pandemic when infants were 16-months on later pandemic related distress (PRD) approximately 1 year later. Results indicate that for both mothers and fathers, more depressive symptoms during their child's infancy predicted more PRD. Although mothers' reports of more child externalizing behavior significantly predicted more PRD, fathers' reports of externalizing were strongly, positively correlated with their concurrent depressive symptoms but not directly related to PRD. We demonstrate the importance of pre-existing mental health and parents' perceptions of their children's behavior as early as 16 months, in coping with disaster.

Assessing patient safety culture in obstetrics ward: a pilot study using a modified Manchester Patient Safety Framework in China.

AIM: The primary objective of this study was to assess the patient safety culture in a general hospital in Shanghai, China, through a modified Manchester Patient Safety Framework (MaPSaF). DESIGN: This study has a qualitative interview design. Data were collected through group interviews and analyses performed through content analysis. METHODS: The MaPSaF was translated into Chinese and used to assess the patient safety culture in a large general hospital in Shanghai, China. Group interviews using the MaPSaF were conducted with 15 nurses in the obstetric ward. Participants rated their safety practice individually on each of the nine MaPSaF safety culture dimensions. The dimensions and scores were then collectively discussed and a practice-wide consensus score for each dimension was agreed. Discussions were recorded, transcribed and analysed to assess patient safety in the obstetric ward. RESULTS: It took about 2 hr to complete the discussion focusing on patients' safety employing the MaPSaF. Most participants recognized the process as acceptable and useful. The MaPSaF directed team discussion about patient safety issues and facilitated communication, prompting some practice changes. All participants responded positively to the discussion and perceived MaPSaF as a good safety culture assessment tool, with clear, comprehensive and understandable entries. The process demonstrated that the department of obstetrics in the hospital already had a positive patient safety culture, but certain areas were highlighted as still needing improvement. Based on participants' positive experience and perception of the MaPSaF, it can be concluded that there is potential benefit in its adaptation and use in obstetrics wards of Chinese hospitals. The MaPSaF has the potential to strengthen existing safety cultures and improve general safety through collaborative measures.

Evaluation of cardiopulmonary resuscitation quality during the pandemic of COVID-19.

BACKGROUND: Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is an important technique of first aid. It is necessary to be popularized. Large-scale offline training has been affected after the outbreak of Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Online training will be the future trend, but the quality of online assessment is unclear. This study aims to compare online and offline evaluations of CPR quality using digital simulator and specialist scoring methods. METHODS: Forty-eight out of 108 contestants who participated in the second Chinese National CPR Skill Competition held in 2020 were included in this study. The competition comprised two stages. In the preliminary online competition, the contestants practiced on the digital simulator while the specialist teams scored live videos. The final competition was held offline, and consisted of live simulator scoring and specialist scoring. The grades of the simulator and specialists in different stages were compared. RESULTS: There was no statistical significance for simulator grades between online and offline competition(37.7 ± 2.0 vs. 36.4 ± 3.4, p = 0.169). For specialists' grades, the video scores were lower than live scores (55.0 ± 1.4 vs. 57.2 ± 1.7, p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Simulator scoring provided better reliability than specialist scoring in the online evaluation of CPR quality. However, the simulator could only collect quantified data. Specialist scoring is necessary in conjunction with online tests to provide a comprehensive evaluation. A complete and standardized CPR quality evaluation system can be established by combining simulator and specialist contributions.

Imported cold chain food traceability management platform and innovative application

In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic broke out globally, and cold-chain food has become the key point of the task to prevent the coronavirus from spreading within the city/region or beyond. Using information tools like establishing a national cold-chain traceability management platform to control the risk of imported cold-chain food has become an important topic at present. The paper focuses on the technology used by provinces and cities in cold-chain traceability, and combined with the actual needs, analyzes the advantages of heterogeneous identification technology. This paper starts from the present situation, introducing the technical roadmap selecting of traceability of imported cold-chain food and elaborating the data circulation structure of traceability of imported cold-chain food. Based on that, this paper introduces the national traceability platform of imported cold-chain food and its core functions based on heterogeneous identification. Through the construction of a three-level framework with the national cold-chain traceability management platform, to make sure the cold chain food can be traceable and be manageable. Meanwhile, through the two applications of inter-provincial confirmation and data verification, the national management effect of imported cold chain food is improved. [Outlook] Currently, the platform mainly focuses on imported livestock, poultry and aquatic products. In the future, the traceability scope may be gradually expanded to help improve the management effect. Establishing the imported cold-chain food traceability platform has a good effect on improving the information management level and promoting the traceability efficiency of problematic food, which is conducive to ensuring food safety.

Genetically predicted high IGF-1 levels showed protective effects on COVID-19 susceptibility and hospitalization: a Mendelian randomisation study with data from 60 studies across 25 countries.

Background: Epidemiological studies observed gender differences in COVID-19 outcomes, however, whether sex hormone plays a causal in COVID-19 risk remains unclear. This study aimed to examine associations of sex hormone, sex hormones-binding globulin (SHBG), insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1), and COVID-19 risk. Methods: Two-sample Mendelian randomization (TSMR) study was performed to explore the causal associations between testosterone, estrogen, SHBG, IGF-1, and the risk of COVID-19 (susceptibility, hospitalization, and severity) using genome-wide association study (GWAS) summary level data from the COVID-19 Host Genetics Initiative (N=1,348,701). Random-effects inverse variance weighted (IVW) MR approach was used as the primary MR method and the weighted median, MR-Egger, and MR Pleiotropy RESidual Sum and Outlier (MR-PRESSO) test were conducted as sensitivity analyses. Results: Higher genetically predicted IGF-1 levels have nominally significant association with reduced risk of COVID-19 susceptibility and hospitalization. For one standard deviation increase in genetically predicted IGF-1 levels, the odds ratio was 0.77 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.61-0.97, p=0.027) for COVID-19 susceptibility, 0.62 (95% CI: 0.25-0.51, p=0.018) for COVID-19 hospitalization, and 0.85 (95% CI: 0.52-1.38, p=0.513) for COVID-19 severity. There was no evidence that testosterone, estrogen, and SHBG are associated with the risk of COVID-19 susceptibility, hospitalization, and severity in either overall or sex-stratified TSMR analysis. Conclusions: Our study indicated that genetically predicted high IGF-1 levels were associated with decrease the risk of COVID-19 susceptibility and hospitalization, but these associations did not survive the Bonferroni correction of multiple testing. Further studies are needed to validate the findings and explore whether IGF-1 could be a potential intervention target to reduce COVID-19 risk. Funding: We acknowledge support from NSFC (LR22H260001), CRUK (C31250/A22804), SHLF (Hjärt-Lungfonden, 20210351), VR (Vetenskapsrådet, 2019-00977), and SCI (Cancerfonden).

Establishment of SARS-CoV-2 Immunoglobulins (IgM, IgG) Reference Intervals for Elder Population in China based on 3,733 Samples.

BACKGROUND: Establishment of reference intervals (RIs) for different biomarkers is essential for clinical monitoring. The purpose of this study was to establish laboratory RIs of SARS-CoV-2 IgM and IgG for elder population. MATERIALS: Performance verification was conducted with reference to the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI) guidelines, including linearity, imprecision, and allowable dilution ratio. Based on CLSI C28-A3 document, a total of 3,734 serum samples were collected, and 3,733 serum samples were used for the establishment of RIs for SARS-CoV-2 IgM and IgG. The subjects were grouped by gender and age. The age groups were as follows: 60 - 69 years, 70 - 79 years, 80 - 89 years, and 90 - 101 years. The RI was defined by nonparametric 95th percentile intervals. RESULTS: Percentage deviation of all the seven dilutions were all less than 12.5% during linearity evaluation. The inter-assay and intra-assay imprecision were all less than 5%. There is no significant difference between different gender and age groups for IgM (p = 0.0818, p = 0.7094), and there is significant difference between different gender and age groups for IgG (p = 0.0011, p = 0.0013). Harris-Boyd's test did not indicate partitioning for IgM and IgG. Cutoff values of RI for SARS-CoV-2 IgM and IgG were defined as 0.1523 S/CO and 0.2663 S/CO, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: RIs of SRAR-CoV-2 IgM and IgG were established for elder population, which can play an important role in the prevention and control of the epidemic.

Risk of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Transmission Through Solid Organ Transplantation and Outcomes of Coronavirus Disease 2019 Among Recent Transplant Recipients.

Background: Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is transmissible through lung transplantation, and outcomes among infected organ recipients may be severe. Transmission risk to extrapulmonary organ recipients and recent (within 30 days of transplantation) SARS-CoV-2-infected recipient outcomes are unclear. Methods: During March 2020-March 2021, potential SARS-CoV-2 transmissions through solid organ transplantation were investigated. Assessments included SARS-CoV-2 testing, medical record review, determination of likely transmission route, and recent recipient outcomes. Results: During March 2020-March 2021, approximately 42 740 organs were transplanted in the United States. Forty donors, who donated 140 organs to 125 recipients, were investigated. Nine (23%) donors and 25 (20%) recipients were SARS-CoV-2 positive by nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT). Most (22/25 [88%]) SARS-CoV-2-infected recipients had healthcare or community exposures. Nine SARS-CoV-2-infected donors donated 21 organs to 19 recipients. Of these, 3 lung recipients acquired SARS-CoV-2 infections from donors with negative SARS-CoV-2 testing of pretransplant upper respiratory tract specimens but from whom posttransplant lower respiratory tract (LRT) specimens were SARS-CoV-2 positive. Sixteen recipients of extrapulmonary organs from SARS-CoV-2-infected donors had no evidence of posttransplant COVID-19. All-cause mortality within 45 days after transplantation was 6-fold higher among SARS-CoV-2-infected recipients (9/25 [36%]) than those without (6/100 [6%]). Conclusions: Transplant-transmission of SARS-CoV-2 is uncommon. Pretransplant NAAT of lung donor LRT specimens may prevent transmission of SARS-CoV-2 through transplantation. Extrapulmonary organs from SARS-CoV-2-infected donors may be safely usable, although further study is needed. Reducing recent recipient exposures to SARS-CoV-2 should remain a focus of prevention.

Development and application of N-protein blocking ELISA for detecting porcine epidemic diarrhea virus antibodies

The purpose of this study is to establish a blocking ELISA antibodies detection method for porcine epidemic diarrhea virus (PEDV). The purified N protein was used as the coating antigen, and the ELISA reaction conditions were optimized by the chess rboard titration. A blocking ELISA method for detecting PEDV antibodies was established, and its specificity, sensitivity and repeatability tests were carried out. One hundred and forty clinical serum samples were tested, and the results were compared with commercially IDvet PEDV indirect ELISA antibodies detection kit. The results showed that the best antigen coating concentration was 625 ng.mL-1, and the best dilution ratio of serum was 1:1;The best dilution of the HRP-conjugated antibody working solution was 1:5 000;There was no cross-reaction with healthy pig serum and the positive sera of common pig disease pathogens, such as classical swine fever virus (CSFV), porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV), porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2), and transmissible gastroenteritis virus (TGEV). The sensitivity of PEDV positive serum was 1:16, which was equivalent to that of IDvet ELISA kit (titer 1:32). The coefficient of variation of within-run and between-run repeatability test is less than 10%, so it showed that the blocking ELISA established in this study had good repeatability and stability;the kappa value of detected 140 clinical porcine serum using this method was 0.87 when compared with IDvet ELISA. The above results indicated that the established blocking ELISA method for detecting PEDV antibodies in this study could be applied to the prevention and control of PEDV, epidemiological investigation and the monitoring of antibody levels after vaccine immunization.

A Review: The Manifestations, Mechanisms, and Treatments of Musculoskeletal Pain in Patients With COVID-19.

The outbreak of COVID-19 poses a serious threat to global health. Musculoskeletal (MSK) pain is the most frequent symptom in patients with COVID-19 besides fever and cough. There are limited studies addressing MSK symptoms in patients with COVID-19. This review aims to provide an overview of current studies related to MSK pain in patients with COVID-19, summarize the possible mechanisms of myalgia, and describe the current management options. In addition to acute respiratory manifestations, COVID-19 might also affect neurological systems which include skeletal manifestations and muscular injury. A possible mechanism of MSK pain and myalgia in COVID-19 may be related to the distribution of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE-2) and the occurrence of cytokine storms. ACE-2 has been shown to be the receptor of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-COV2). Moreover, studies have shown that inflammatory cytokines could cause myalgia by inducing prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) production. In addition, it was also found that the plasma levels of IL2, IL7, IL10, IL-6, TNFα, and e lymphopenia were higher in patients with COVID-19. In general, the treatment of MSK pain in patients with COVID-19 falls into pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions. Various treatments of each have its own merits. The role of vaccination is irreplaceable in the efforts to prevent COVID-19 and mitigates its subsequent symptoms.

Expression of plasma IFN signaling-related miRNAs during acute SARS-CoV-2 infection and its association with RBD-IgG antibody response.

BACKGROUND: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a huge challenge worldwide. Although previous studies have suggested that type I interferon (IFN-I) could inhibit the virus replication, the expression characteristics of IFN-I signaling-related miRNAs (ISR-miRNAs) during acute severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection and its relationship with receptor-binding domain (RBD) IgG antibody response at the recovery phase remain unclear. METHODS: Expression profiles of 12 plasma ISR-miRNAs in COVID-19 patients and healthy controls were analyzed using RT-qPCR. The level of RBD-IgG antibody was determined using the competitive ELISA. Spearman correlation was done to measure the associations of plasma ISR-miRNAs with clinical characteristics during acute SARS-CoV-2 infection and RBD-IgG antibody response at the recovery phase. RESULTS: Compared with the healthy controls, COVID-19 patients exhibited higher levels of miR-29b-3p (Z = 3.15, P = 0.002) and miR-1246 (Z = 4.98, P < 0.001). However, the expression of miR-186-5p and miR-15a-5p were significantly decreased. As the results shown, miR-30b-5p was negatively correlated with CD4 + T cell counts (r = - 0.41, P = 0.027) and marginally positively correlated with fasting plasma glucose in COVID-19 patients (r = 0.37, P = 0.052). The competitive ELISA analysis showed the plasma level of miR-497-5p at the acute phase was positively correlated with RBD-IgG antibody response (r = 0.48, P = 0.038). CONCLUSIONS: Our present results suggested that the expression level of ISR-miRNAs was not only associated with acute SARS-CoV-2 infection but also with RBD-IgG antibody response at the recovery phase of COVID-19. Future studies should be performed to explore the biological significance of ISR-miRNAs in SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Safety and efficacy of meplazumab in healthy volunteers and COVID-19 patients: a randomized phase 1 and an exploratory phase 2 trial.

Recent evidence suggests that CD147 serves as a novel receptor for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. Blocking CD147 via anti-CD147 antibody could suppress the in vitro SARS-CoV-2 replication. Meplazumab is a humanized anti-CD147 IgG2 monoclonal antibody, which may effectively prevent SARS-CoV-2 infection in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients. Here, we conducted a randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled phase 1 trial to evaluate the safety, tolerability, and pharmacokinetics of meplazumab in healthy subjects, and an open-labeled, concurrent controlled add-on exploratory phase 2 study to determine the efficacy in COVID-19 patients. In phase 1 study, 59 subjects were enrolled and assigned to eight cohorts, and no serious treatment-emergent adverse event (TEAE) or TEAE grade ≥3 was observed. The serum and peripheral blood Cmax and area under the curve showed non-linear pharmacokinetic characteristics. No obvious relation between the incidence or titer of positive anti-drug antibody and dosage was observed in each cohort. The biodistribution study indicated that meplazumab reached lung tissue and maintained >14 days stable with the lung tissue/cardiac blood-pool ratio ranging from 0.41 to 0.32. In the exploratory phase 2 study, 17 COVID-19 patients were enrolled, and 11 hospitalized patients were involved as concurrent control. The meplazumab treatment significantly improved the discharged (P = 0.005) and case severity (P = 0.021), and reduced the time to virus negative (P = 0.045) in comparison to the control group. These results show a sound safety and tolerance of meplazumab in healthy volunteers and suggest that meplazumab could accelerate the recovery of patients from COVID-19 pneumonia with a favorable safety profile.

Enhanced throughput of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) real-time RT-PCR panel by assay multiplexing and specimen pooling.

A multiplex real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) assay for detection of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was developed based on the same primer and probe sequences of an existing U.S. CDC Emergency Use authorized test panel, targeting SARS-CoV-2 N1, N2 and human RNase P genes in singleplex. Both singleplex and multiplex assays demonstrated linear dynamic ranges of 8 orders of magnitude and analytical limits of detection of 5 RNA transcript copies/reaction. Both assays showed 100 % agreement with 364 previously characterized clinical specimens (146 positive and 218 negative) for detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA. To further increase testing throughput, 40 positive and 20 negative four-specimen pools were tested by the multiplex assay and showed 97.75 % and 100 % congruence with individual specimen tests, respectively. rRT-PCR assay multiplexing and sample pooling, individually or in combination, can substantially increase throughput of SARS-CoV-2 testing.

Rapid Differential Diagnosis of Seven Human Respiratory Coronaviruses Based on Centrifugal Microfluidic Nucleic Acid Assay.

With the global outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the highly infective, highly pathogenic, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has attracted great attention. Currently, a method to simultaneously diagnose the seven known types human coronaviruses remains lacking and is urgently needed. In this work, we successfully developed a portable microfluidic system for the rapid, accurate, and simultaneous detection of SARS-CoV, middle east respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), SARS-CoV-2, and four other human coronaviruses (HCoVs) including HCoV-229E, HCoV-OC43, HCoV-NL63, and HCoV-HKU1. The disk-like microfluidic platform integrated with loop-mediated isothermal amplification provides highly accurate, sensitive, and specific results with a wide linear range within 40 min. The diagnostic tool achieved 100% consistency with the "gold standard" polymerase chain reaction in detecting 54 real clinical samples. The integrated system, with its simplicity, is urgently needed for the diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Influence of diabetes mellitus on the severity and fatality of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) infection.

AIM: To evaluate the influence of diabetes on the severity and fatality of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The medical records of 66 hospitalized coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients were collected and classified into non-severe (mild/moderate cases) and severe (severe/critical cases) groups. Logistic regression analysis was used to estimate the risk of severe COVID-19 (severe/critical infection). In addition, a meta-analysis including published studies reported the impact of diabetes on the severity and fatality of COVID-19. The current study was conducted using fixed effects models. RESULTS: There were 22 diabetes and 44 non-diabetes cases among the 66 hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Seven patients with diabetes (31.82%) were diagnosed as severe COVID-19 cases, which was significantly higher than that in the non-diabetes group (4/44, 9.09%, P = .033). After adjustment for age and gender, diabetes was significantly associated with COVID-19 severity (OR: 5.29, 95% CI: 1.07-26.02). A meta-analysis further confirmed the positive association between diabetes and COVID-19 severity (pooled OR = 2.58, 95% CI: 1.93-3.45). Moreover, the patients with diabetes infected with SARS-CoV-2 had a 2.95-fold higher risk of fatality compared with those patients without diabetes (95% CI: 1.93-4.53). CONCLUSIONS: Our findings provide new evidence that diabetes is associated with a higher risk of severity and fatality of COVID-19. Therefore, intensive monitoring and antidiabetic therapy should be considered in patients with diabetes with SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Prevalence, Seroprevalence, and Exposure among Evacuees from Wuhan, China, 2020.

To determine prevalence of, seroprevalence of, and potential exposure to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) among a cohort of evacuees returning to the United States from Wuhan, China, in January 2020, we conducted a cross-sectional study of quarantined evacuees from 1 repatriation flight. Overall, 193 of 195 evacuees completed exposure surveys and submitted upper respiratory or serum specimens or both at arrival in the United States. Nearly all evacuees had taken preventive measures to limit potential exposure while in Wuhan, and none had detectable SARS-CoV-2 in upper respiratory tract specimens, suggesting the absence of asymptomatic respiratory shedding among this group at the time of testing. Evidence of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 was detected in 1 evacuee, who reported experiencing no symptoms or high-risk exposures in the previous 2 months. These findings demonstrated that this group of evacuees posed a low risk of introducing SARS-CoV-2 to the United States.

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 from Patient with Coronavirus Disease, United States.

The etiologic agent of an outbreak of pneumonia in Wuhan, China, was identified as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 in January 2020. A patient in the United States was given a diagnosis of infection with this virus by the state of Washington and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on January 20, 2020. We isolated virus from nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal specimens from this patient and characterized the viral sequence, replication properties, and cell culture tropism. We found that the virus replicates to high titer in Vero-CCL81 cells and Vero E6 cells in the absence of trypsin. We also deposited the virus into 2 virus repositories, making it broadly available to the public health and research communities. We hope that open access to this reagent will expedite development of medical countermeasures.

US CDC Real-Time Reverse Transcription PCR Panel for Detection of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was identified as the etiologic agent associated with coronavirus disease, which emerged in late 2019. In response, we developed a diagnostic panel consisting of 3 real-time reverse transcription PCR assays targeting the nucleocapsid gene and evaluated use of these assays for detecting SARS-CoV-2 infection. All assays demonstrated a linear dynamic range of 8 orders of magnitude and an analytical limit of detection of 5 copies/reaction of quantified RNA transcripts and 1 x 10-1.5 50% tissue culture infectious dose/mL of cell-cultured SARS-CoV-2. All assays performed comparably with nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal secretions, serum, and fecal specimens spiked with cultured virus. We obtained no false-positive amplifications with other human coronaviruses or common respiratory pathogens. Results from all 3 assays were highly correlated during clinical specimen testing. On February 4, 2020, the Food and Drug Administration issued an Emergency Use Authorization to enable emergency use of this panel.