Guidelines for Laboratory Diagnosis of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Korea
Ki Ho Hong, Sangwon Lee, Taek Soo Kim, Hee Jae Huh, Jaehyeon Lee, So Yeon Kim, Jae Sun Park, Gab Jung Kim, Heungsup Sung, Kyoung Ho Roh, Jae‐Seok Kim, Hyun Soo Kim, Seung‐Tae Lee, Moon‐Woo Seong, Nam Hee Ryoo, Hyukmin Lee, Kye Chul Kwon, Cheon‐Kwon Yoo
Abstract
The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which began in December 2019, is still ongoing in Korea, with >9,000 confirmed cases as of March 25, 2020. COVID-19 is a severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection, and real-time reverse transcription-PCR is currently the most reliable diagnostic method for COVID-19 around the world. Korean Society for Laboratory Medicine and the Korea Centers for Disease Prevention and Control propose guidelines for diagnosing COVID-19 in clinical laboratories in Korea. These guidelines are based on other related domestic and international guidelines, as well as expert opinions and include the selection of test subjects, selection of specimens, diagnostic methods, interpretation of test results, and biosafety.