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This is a limitation to increase testing capacities, particularly at developing countries, as expensive reagents and equipment are required. We developed a two steps end point RT-PCR reaction with SARS-CoV-2 Nucleocapsid (N) gene and Ribonuclease P (RNase P) specific primers where viral amplicons were verified by agarose gel electrophoresis. We carried out a clinical performance and analytical sensitivity evaluation for this two-steps end point RT-PCR method with 242 nasopharyngeal samples using the CDC RT-qPCR protocol as a gold standard technique. With a specificity of 95.8%, a sensitivity of 95.1%, and a limit of detection of 20 viral RNA copies\/uL, this two steps end point RT-PCR assay is an affordable and reliable method for SARS-CoV-2 detection. This protocol would allow to extend COVID-19\u00a0diagnosis to basic molecular biology laboratories with a potential positive\u00a0impact in\u00a0surveillance programs at developing countries.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-021-00900-8","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2021,11,4]],"date-time":"2021-11-04T11:37:43Z","timestamp":1636025863000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1007\/springer_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":15,"title":["High sensitivity-low cost detection of SARS-CoV-2 by two steps end point RT-PCR with agarose gel electrophoresis visualization"],"prefix":"10.1038","volume":"11","author":[{"given":"Solange","family":"Figueroa","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Byron","family":"Freire-Paspuel","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Patricio","family":"Vega-Mari\u00f1o","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Alberto","family":"Velez","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Marilyn","family":"Cruz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Washington B.","family":"Cardenas","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Miguel Angel","family":"Garcia-Bereguiain","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"297","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2021,11,4]]},"reference":[{"key":"900_CR1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1038\/s41586-020-2012-7","author":"P Zhou","year":"2020","unstructured":"Zhou, P. et al. 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