COVID-19 diagnostic approaches: different roads to the same destination

Abstract

“SARS-CoV2”, a previously unknown strain of coronaviruses caused a severe respiratory disease called Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) which emerged from Wuhan city of China on 30 December 2019, and declared as Global health problem by World Health Organisation within a month. In less than two and half months (11 March, 2020) it was declared as a pandemic disease due to its rapid spreading ability, it covered more than 211 countries infecting around 1.7 million persons and claiming around 1.1 lakhs lives within merely 100 days of its emergence. Containment of the infection of this virus is the only available measure to control the disease as no vaccine or specific antiviral treatment is available. Confirmed detection of the virus followed by isolation of the infected person at the earliest possible is the only measure to prevent this disease. Although there are number of methods available for detection of virus and to combat this disease in the present pandemic situation, but these available diagnostic methods have their own limitations. The speedy and exponential global spread of this disease strongly urges the fast and economic diagnostics tools. Additional to the available diagnostic methods, there is a sudden surge for development of various of methods and platforms to diagnose the COVID-19. The review summarized the advantage and disadvantage of various diagnostic approaches being used presently for COVID-19, newer detection methods in developmental stage and the feasibility of advanced platforms like newer nano-sensor based on-the-spot detection technologies.