Estandarización de Emergencia para el Diagnóstico del virus SARS-CoV-2 mediante la Reacción en Cadena de la Polimerasa de Transcripción Reversa en Tiempo Real (RT-PCR) en situación de pandemia de COVID-19

In the face of the emerging coronavirus pandemic SARS-CoV-2 (Severe Acute Respiratory Sindrome Coronavirus 2 related) accurate standardization of hospital diagnosis is necessary to reduce the response time for confirmation of a suspected case. For this reason, laboratory diagnosis is a priority for public health systems. In the area of Soria, with 100,000 inhabitants, a very old population, a mortality rate double that of Spain for COVID-19, the Hospital Santa Barbara of the public network is the only diagnostic center for SARS-CoV-2. In the Microbiology Service, we have established a robust diagnostic methodology for the detection of viral RNA present in samples from infected patients using the Real-Time Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) technique, which allows a report to be issued in approximately 4 hours. This study describes the process that could guide the Microbiology Services of other Hospitals.