Apoptosis

Description: The Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is an infectious disease caused by a newly discovered coronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The SARS-CoV-2 is a β -coronavirus, which is an enveloped non-segmented positive-sense RNA virus 2. It is spread by human-to-human transmission via droplets or direct contact, and infection has been estimated to have a mean incubation period of 6.4 days and a basic reproduction number of 2.24-3.58. Among patients with pneumonia caused by SARS-CoV-2, fever was the most common symptom, followed by cough3. The main IVD assays used for COVID-19 employ real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) that takes a few hours 4. The availability of a cost-effective, rapid point- of-care diagnostic test is critical to enable healthcare professionals to aid in the diagnosis of patients and prevent further spread of the virus5. Antigen tests will play a critical role in the fight against COVID-19