Advances in point-of-care testing for new corona virus nucleic acid

ABSTRACT

The corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by the new coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) has spread rapidly around the world, posing a serious threat to the public's health. As of September 30, 2020, the number of infected people in the world has reached 33 million, causing more than 1 million deaths. Normalized nucleic acid detection methods based on lab have long turnaround time and high cost. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop a convenient method to detect SARS-CoV-2, so as to achieve rapid testing and timely control of the epidemic when resources are limited. This review summarizes the point-of-care testing (POCT) methods developed for SARS-CoV-2 in terms of extraction, amplification and detection, and briefly introduces commercial POCT instruments that integrate these three steps, in order to provide references for emergency response and rapid deployment of COVID-19 and other emerging infectious diseases. © 2020 China Pharmaceutical University. All rights reserved.