Table 1.

Current Diagnosis method available for COVID-19

Method available	Working principle	Advantage	Time required	Disadvantage
Next generation sequencing (NGS)	Whole genome sequencing	Highly sensitive and specific,  Provide all related information;  Can identify novel strain	1–2 day	High expertise  Equipment dependency and high cost  Highly sophisticated Lab required
RT-PCR	Specific primer-probe based detection	Fast results  Higher sensitivity  Needs small amount of  DNA Can be performed in a single step  Well established methodology in viral diagnostics	3–4 h	Higher costs due to the use of expensive consumables  Expensive lab equipment  Detection is also complex and time consuming
LAMP	More than two sets of specific primers pair based detection	Highly repeatable and accurate  Single working temperature	1 h	Too sensitive, highly prone to false positives due to carry-over or cross-contamination
Serological (traditional)	Antigen/Antibodies IgG/IgM	Sensitive and specific	4–6 h	Testing come after 3-4 days of infection  False positive
Rapid serological	Antigen/Antibodies IgG/IgM	POCT	15–30 min	Testing come after 3-4 days of infection  False positive
CT scan	Chest images	Enhance sensitivity of detection if findings combined with RT-PCR results	1 h	Indistinguishability from other viral pneumonia and the hysteresis of abnormal CT
Virus isolation	In vitro live virus isolation and propagation	Highly (100%) specific  Gold standard	5–15 days	Low sensitivity as isolation is not 100%