Laboratory Biomarkers for the Diagnosis and Management of Patients with COVID-19: an Updated Review

ABSTRACT

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) has become a global crisis due to strong infectivity and fast transmission speed. Some patients with Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) progress rapidly and may develop fatal complications, which brings serious challenges in disease assessment and treatment. Recent progress in the understanding of the molecular biology of SARS-CoV-2 has led to the identification of a variety of laboratory biomarkers that could be potentially applied to clinical practice for the diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of patients with COVID-19. In this review we summarize the updated status on the identification of COVID-19 related laboratory markers, and propose further direction on the application of these markers to clinical diagnosis and management of patients with COVID-19.