Advances in molecular infectious diseases testing in the time of COVID-19

The Coronavirus Disease of 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has been a challenging event for laboratory medicine and diagnostics manufacturers. We have had to confront numerous unique and previously unthinkable issues on a daily basis in order to continue offering diagnostic testing for not only Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), but other testing that was significantly impacted by supply chain and staffing disruptions related to COVID-19. Out of this tremendously stressful and, at times, chaotic environment, decades of innovations and advances in testing methodologies and instrumentation became essential to handle the overwhelming volume of samples with clinically appropriate turn-around-time. Additionally, a number of novel testing approaches and technological innovations emerged to address laboratory and public health needs for widespread testing. In this review we consider both technological advances in infectious diseases testing and other innovations in sample collection, processing, automation, workflow, and testing that have embodied the laboratory response to the COVID-19 pandemic.