THE WORLD IS FACING AN UNPRECEDENTED PANDEMIC CAUSED BY THE NEW CORONAVIRUS SARS-COV-2. IN THE LIGHT OF THE RAPID SPREAD OF THIS PATHOGEN, THE EPIDEMIC SPREAD RAPIDLY IN MORE THAN 200 COUNTRIES, AFFECTING MORE THAN 2 MILLION SUBJECTS AS OF APRIL 16, 2020 AND CAUSING MORE THAN 140,000 DEATHS IN THE WORLD.DA THIS WE LEARNED IN THE FIRST MONTHS OF THE PANDEMIC, ASYMPTOMATIC CARRIERS REPRESENT THE LARGEST VEHICLE FOR THE SPREAD OF THE VIRUS, AS IT HAS BEEN ESTIMATED THAT ABOUT 50-70 % OF INFECTED SUBJECTS SHOW FEW SYMPTOMS, OR EVEN NONE. FROM A DIAGNOSTIC POINT OF VIEW, THE POLYMERASE CHAIN REACTION (PCR) IN NASAL AND OROPHARYNGEAL SWABS IS CONSIDERED THE ONLY VALID TECHNIQUE FOR THE IDENTIFICATION OF PATIENTS INFECTED WITH SARS-COV-2. THE HIGHER INSTITUTE OF HEALTH, IN LINE WITH THE INDICATIONS OF THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION, HAS PREFERRED THE EXECUTION OF SWABS EXCLUSIVELY TO SINTOMATICI CASES.WHERE THE PCR ANALYSIS IS THE ONLY ONE