Monitoring the infection of SARS-CoV-2 and the development of diagnostic tools

Several issues are still unclear about the COVID-19 pandemic infection. The spreading of the infection throughout the world shows striking differences. In the present survey is described the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection as reported in internationally updated online registers, comparing reported cases and deaths per million of inhabitants. Analysis of the data reflects a wide range among the continents and within each geographic area there are important differences among different countries. A focus on the Italian regions describes significant differences in terms of cases between North and South Italy in August 2020, a situation that reflects the diffusion of the SARS-CoV-2 infection in the period of February-April 2020. The scenario becomes completely different in October; indeed the number of cases and hospitalized patients shows an increase of 20-fold with respect to August 2020. Tools for the diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection have become pivotal in the efforts to control the infection and monitor infected subjects. In the present report the different tests currently available are described as well as their usefulness in the present situation and their potential usage once the campaign for mass vaccination is effective.