Realistic considerations for comparison between SARS-CoV-2 molecular diagnostic assays

Abstract

We read with great interest the article by You et al., 2020 [1] in which excellent agreement between two SARS-CoV-2 molecular diagnostic assays of different formats was reported. The cobas 6800 SARS-CoV-2 test (Roche Molecular Systems, Rotkreuz, Switzerland) is a sample-to-result platform of high throughput. Conversely, the Taiwan CDC assay is a scalable manual test with flexibility. In the setting of a sudden and severe pandemic, the adoption of multiple diagnostic platforms for clinical testing to circumvent routine service disruption due to potential supply shortage of reagents and consumables is prudent. The Taiwan CDC assay utilises a stand-alone nucleic acid extraction process which enables polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing of a wider spectrum of specimen types with previously published primers and probes [2]. A laboratory-developed test like this allows the