Detection and analysis of clinical species of novel coronavirus pneumonia in Anhui Provence

Objective To examine 2019-nCoV RNA in clinical specimens of COVID-19 in Anhui Provence, and provide evidence for laboratory diagnosis of COVID-19 and risk assessment of clinical specimens. Methods ORF1ab gene and N gene of 2019-nCoV were detected by real-time fluorescence RT-PCR in 466 clinical specimens of 197 COVID-19 cases. Chi-square test was used to analyze the differences in positive rates of specimens with clinical classification and time of onset. Results The positive rates of 2019-nCoV in throat swab, sputum, serum, blood sample were 88.83%, 94.67%, 6.78% and 5.08%. The positive rate for 2019-nCoV RNA in throat swabs and sputum differed significantly (χ2=8.994, P=0.003) in common cases during 7 days after illness onset. Conclusions The positive rate of RNA in sputum was higher than throat swabs. 2019-nCoV RNA was detected in serum and blood specimens of COVID-19 cases. There was a risk of serum and blood specimens of COVID-19. Key words: COVID-19; 2019-nCoV; Real-time fluorescent RT-PCR