The First Quarter of SARS-CoV-2 Testing: the University of Washington Medicine Experience
Alexander L. Greninger, Keith R. Jerome
Abstract
In early March 2020, the University of Washington Medical Center clinical virology laboratory became one of the first clinical laboratories to offer testing for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). When we first began test development in mid-January, neither of us believed there would be more than 2 million confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infections nationwide or that we would have performed more than 150,000 real-time PCR (RT-PCR) tests, with many more to come. This article will be a chronological summary of how we rapidly validated tests for SARS-CoV-2, increased our testing capacity, and addressed the many problems that came up along the way.
Topics & Concepts
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)2019-20 coronavirus outbreakMedicineDiagnostic testCoronavirusQuarter (Canadian coin)Sars virusVirologyTest (biology)Clinical microbiologyBetacoronavirusFamily medicinePediatricsHistoryPathologyBiologyInfectious disease (medical specialty)DiseaseOutbreakMicrobiologyPaleontologyArchaeologySARS-CoV-2 detection and testingSARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 ResearchCOVID-19 Clinical Research Studies