Abstract
It has been 20 months since we first heard of SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus detected in the Hubei province, China, in December 2019, responsible for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, a myriad of studies aimed at understanding and controlling SARS-CoV-2 have been published at a pace that has outshined the original effort to combat HIV during the beginning of the AIDS epidemic. This massive response started by developing strategies to not only diagnose individual SARS-CoV-2 infections but to monitor the transmission, evolution, and global spread of this new virus. We currently have hundreds of commercial diagnostic tests; however, that was not the case in early 2020, when just a handful of protocols were available, and few whole-genome SARS-CoV-2 sequences had been described. It was mid-January 2020 when several District Health Boards across New Zealand started planning the implementation of diagnostic testing for this emerging virus. Here, we describe our experience implementing a molecular test to detect SARS-CoV-2 infection, adapting the RT-qPCR assay to be used in a random-access platform (Hologic Panther Fusion® System) in a clinical laboratory, and characterizing the first whole-genome SARS-CoV-2 sequences obtained in the South Island, right at the beginning of the SARS-CoV-2 outbreak in New Zealand. We expect that this work will help us and others prepare for the unequivocal risk of similar viral outbreaks in the future.
Highlights
We describe the characterization of the first whole-genome SARS-CoV-2 sequences in the
The RNA transcripts were used as positive controls in the implementation of the real-time reverse transcription-quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) assay
By the third week of January 2020, it was evident that the 2019 novel coronavirus
Summary
World Health Organization to declare a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on 30 January 2020 and a COVID-19 Pandemic on 11 March 2020 (https://www.who.int/, accessed on 7 September 2021). Following the first description of the viral disease in Wuhan, and the imminent possibility of its expansion outside China [1,3,4,5,6,7], many researchers, clinicians, and public health authorities across the world were rushing to find the best way to respond to the virus outbreak. Most plans included the development and implementation of diagnostic methods, with the caveat that access to reagents (e.g., SARS-CoV-2 genetic material to be used as control) in countries with no COVID-19 cases was limited. It was clear from the beginning that diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection would rely upon the detection of viral genomic
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
