TABLE 1.

RT‐PCR test indication among symptomatic patients with suspected COVID‐19 in selected organizations

Organization	Recommendation
Outside Japan
World Health Organization	Anyone with symptoms should be tested, wherever possible.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, United States	People who have symptoms of COVID‐19.
European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control	Ideally, all people with COVID‐19 symptoms should be tested as soon as possible after symptom onset.
Ministry of Health, Ontario, Canada	Testing should be offered to, or arranged for, all patients with new or worsening symptoms that are compatible with COVID‐19 where possible and appropriate. Along with a different diagnosis (eg, bacterial infection), COVID‐19 testing should be considered in parallel if warranted.
British Columbia Centre for Disease Control, Canada	Recommend testing if any ONE of the following symptoms more predictive or strongly associated with COVID‐19 is reported: fever or chills; new onset or worsening of chronic cough; loss of sense of smell or taste; difficulty breathing.
Japan
Japan Medical Association	COVID‐19 would be suspected after excluding infections by common respiratory pathogens such as bacteria, aspiration‐related organisms, Mycoplasma, Chlamydophila.
Japan Primary Care Association	Tests are considered for the following symptomatic patients: close contact history; high‐risk patients; moderate to severe symptoms; mild symptoms for at least 4 days.

Abbreviations: COVID‐19, coronavirus disease 2019; RT‐PCR, reverse transcription‐polymerase chain reaction.

The reference numbers of these organizations are shown in parentheses: World Health Organization. ⁸ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. ⁹ European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. ¹⁰ Ministry of Health, Ontario, Canada. ¹¹ British Columbia Centre for Disease Control, British Columbia, Canada. ¹² Japan Medical Association. ¹³ Japan Primary Care Association. ¹⁴