TITLE 1 Comparison study of commercial COVID-19 RT-PCR kits propose an approach to evaluate their 2 performances 3 4

17 With the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in Indonesia, scalable and high-throughput 18 diagnostic testing is essential nationwide. Currently, RT-PCR has been the preferred method of 19 viral detection and many manufacturers offer commercial kits for routine clinical diagnostics. In 20 response to the incoming of various kits, there is a need to assess their performance and 21 compatibility of use in clinical laboratories. Kit characteristics impact the testing workflow of 22 these laboratories and some factors can render a kit to perform sub-optimally, leading to false 23 results that are misleading for public safety. Here, we evaluated six commercial kits that are 24 predominantly distributed to appointed testing facilities across Indonesia. Their performance 25 was assessed based on their ease of use, availability, robustness and accuracy for scalable 26 testing in a manual set-up. Our findings demonstrated that all six kits are suitable for use in 27 routine diagnostics, but their considerations for use may vary according to different use-cases. 28 To better guide considerations in procurement of kits, our study provided a systematic 29 approach for laboratories to assess the performance of new incoming kits. 30