Letter to the Editor Regarding “Diagnostic Considerations for COVID-19 in Recipients of Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation”

SARS-CoV-2 in hematopoietic cell transplant (HCT) recipients is associated with severe coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) and higher mortality. SARS-CoV-2 infection is definitively diagnosed by real-time reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR) typically using nasopharyngeal (NP) swabs, and less commonly, samples from the lower respiratory tract, including bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL). In highly prevalent regions, stepwise evaluation, and management, as in the pre-COVID era, risks false-negatives and delay in therapy for COVID-19.