COVID-19 Diagnostics: A Panoramic View on Its Present Scenario, Challenges and Solutions.

ABSTRACT

The initial strategy to curb the surge of novel coronavirus disease, COVID-19, is prevention and quarantine, which are dependent on early diagnosis. The latest commercial diagnostic methods include AI/ML-based imaging methods and laboratory diagnosis, which differ in their efficiency. The former requires lung imaging and is useful for last stage patients. It was ensured to overcome the limitation of availability of laboratory-based kits, while the latter involves the collection of the suitable sample from an individual (blood sample, nasal or oral swab). Laboratory methods include methods like RT-PCR which is contemporarily contemplated as the benchmark for its quick and efficient SARS-CoV-2 infection detection. Other diagnosis alternatives include Serum Viral Neutralization (SVN) assays involving antigen-antibody reaction with much lower efficiency contrasted to RT-PCR. Apart from these methods, early detection has been key to the treatment of COVID-19, but the lack of sensitive assays to detect low viral titers acts as an impediment. This review presents an overview of detecting COVID-19 with the aid of several diagnostic techniques along with their benefits and limitations.