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

Anil K Giri; Divya Rsjb Rana

doi:10.1016/j.bsheal.2020.05.002

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

Biosaf Health. 2020 Jun;2(2):53-56. doi: 10.1016/j.bsheal.2020.05.002. Epub 2020 May 13.

Authors

Anil K Giri¹, Divya Rsjb Rana²

Affiliations

¹ Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM), University of Helsinki, FI-00290 Helsinki, Finland.
² Center for Applied and Allied Sciences, Kathmandu, Nepal.

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

Publication types

Editorial