Diagnosis of neglected tropical diseases during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

The occurrence of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) causing severe pneumonia and death was first reported in December 2019 in Wuhan, China. This was subsequently revealed to be similar to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus and named SARS-CoV-2 [1]. Since December 2019, more than 20.6 million cases have been reported, with over 749,000 deaths [2]. The urgent need to develop diagnostics for COVID-19 has resulted in the already under-resourced development and manufacturing of rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) and molecular tests for many tropical diseases being placed on hold. In this article, we assess the impact that COVID-19, and the strategies put in place to control the pandemic, may have on neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), and in particular on the diagnostic capacity and needs of those diseases.