Development of in vitro transcribed RNA as positive control for laboratory diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 in India

The WHO has recommended reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) for the confirmation of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) diagnosis. Real-time RT-PCR assays with automated extraction systems are required to process large numbers of specimens. Corman et al[1] have reported three real-time RT-PCR assays [based on the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) gene, envelope (E) gene and nucleocapsid (N) gene] for detecting beta coronaviruses, including severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)[1], and additionally, Chu et al[2] have reported two real-time RT-PCR assays based on ORF 1b and N gene that are highly conserved among Sarbeco viruses