Charting the challenges behind the testing of COVID-19 in developing countries: Nepal as a case study

Abstract

The infrastructure needed to detect Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection (COVID-19) that complies completely with WHO guidelines is lacking across many parts of the globe, especially in developing countries, including Nepal. We outline the problems faced by such countries and suggest that the national and international community should collaborate in the development and adoption of novel protocols for the rapid detection of COVID-19 according to locally available infrastructure, in order to fight against the outbreak.

Keywords

• COVID-19
• SARS-CoV-2
• Loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) assay
• Biosafety Level-2 (BSL-2)