A Scalable, Easy-to-Deploy, Protocol for Cas13-Based Detection of SARS-CoV-2 Genetic Material

Jennifer N Rauch; Eric Valois; Sabrina C Solley; Friederike Braig; Ryan S Lach; Naomi J Baxter; Kenneth S Kosik; Carolina Arias; Diego Acosta-Alvear; Maxwell Z Wilson

A range of mitigation efforts have been implemented across the globe to slow the transmission and "flatten the curve," from sheltering-in-place to the requirement for facecovering in public. However, without widelyavailable and accurate testing, it remains unclear exactly how effective these methods are at curbing the spread of the virus. In addition, these risk mitigation efforts have a catastrophic economic and social impact, which makes long-term compliance challenging until a vaccine or treatment is widely available 7 . To reduce the socioeconomic burden, we need to implement effective containment measures, such as contact tracing, quarantine of confirmed cases, and enhanced surveillance, all of which depend on data obtained from widespread testing 8 . Proactive, prevalent, and regular testing have been effective measures for the control of COVID-19 in countries such as South Korea and Taiwan, and will be required for the establishment of effective strategies for the relaxation of socialdistancing measures worldwide 9,10 .