recommended to inactivate severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) before NAT. However, this procedure could theoretically disrupt nucleic acid integrity of this single-stranded RNA virus and cause false negatives in real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests. METHODS:We investigated whether thermal inactivation could affect the results of viral NAT. We examined the effects of thermal inactivation on the quantitative RT-PCR results of SARS-CoV-2, particularly with regard to the rates of false-negative results for specimens carrying low viral loads. We additionally investigated the effects of different specimen types, sample preservation times, and a chemical inactivation approach on NAT. RESULTS:Our study showed increased Ct values in specimens from diagnosed COVID-19 patients in RT-PCR tests after thermal incubation. Moreover, about half of the weak-positive samples (7 of 15 samples, 46.7%) were RT-PCR negative after heat inactivation in at least one parallel testing. The use of guanidiniumbased lysis for preservation of these specimens had a smaller impact on RT-PCR results with fewer false negatives (2 of 15 samples, 13.3%) and significantly less increase in Ct values than heat inactivation. CONCLUSION: Thermal inactivation adversely affected the efficiency of RT-PCR for SARS-CoV-2 detection. Given the limited applicability associated with chemical inactivators, other approaches to ensure the overall protection of laboratory personnel need consideration.

Background The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound impact on health and well-being worldwide and there is increasing recognition of the need to understand the psychological impact of COVID-19 experiences and stress in addition to the physical health consequences. Methods The present study examined how experiences related to COVID-19 and associated stress impact, anxiety, depression, and functional impairment in a convenience sample of 565 American adults (57.9% male) recruited through MTURK. Results COVID-19 experiences were consistently associated with higher odds of probable anxiety and depression diagnoses (ORs ≥ 3.0). COVID-19 associated stress also predicted large proportions of variance (R 2 ≥ 30) in anxiety, depression, health anxiety, and functional impairment in latent variable analyses. Conclusions These findings highlight that personal experiences related to the diagnosis of COVID-19, mortality in acquaintances, and COVID-19 associated stress is associated with a greatly elevated risk of emotional disorder symptomatology and that the COVID-19 pandemic may result in increased demand for mental health services.

Objective The present meta‐analysis consolidated research examining how positive expectancies (e.g., hope, self‐efficacy, and optimism) may protect against the development of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Method Articles were identified by searching PILOTS, PsycINFO, PubMed, and ProQuest Dissertations and Theses databases. Results Aggregated results from 154 studies indicated that positive expectancies were associated with lower levels of PTSD symptoms. This relationship was stronger for coping‐specific self‐efficacy (k = 38, r = −.49; −.54 to −.43) and hope (k = 20, r = −.34; −.39 to −.28) compared with general self‐efficacy (k = 45, r = −.25; −.30 to −.20) and optimism (k = 59, r = −.29; −.33 to −.25) when examining cross‐sectional studies, and results were consistent in prospective studies. Age and gender did not moderate the cross‐sectional relationships. Conclusions These findings indicate that positive expectancies predict post‐trauma resilience. Future research should identify moderators and examine positive expectancies as mechanisms of change in therapy.