The Characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 Virus and Microbiological Diagnosis.

World Health Organization, named the disease caused by Severe Acute Respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 coronavirus on 11 February 2020 as Coronavirus Disease-2019 (COVID-19). A person who has clinical symptom and a history of contact with a patient with confirmed COVID-19 is identified as a ''possible case'' and is expected to be confirmed by laboratory test. A confirmed case is asymptomatic/symptomatic suspected individual with a positive molecular test. Specific diagnosis is made by specific molecular tests on respiratory samples (orafarengeal/ nasopharyngeal swab/sputum/endotracheal aspirates and bronchoalveolar lavage). The virus can also be detected in the stool and in severe patients for a short time in the blood. The number of molecular tests that should be used in the case of a pandemic is rapidly increasing. At the beginning of the outbreak in Turkey, tests could only be performed in suspected patients in the central unit and then they began to be performed in other reference laboratories. Rapid antigen tests did not provide the desired performance, while rapid antibody tests were distributed to the field to support polymerase chain reaction tests and determine immunity. Microbiology Laboratory is indispensable in controlling the COVID-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]