SARS-CoV-2 Viral Load Predicts COVID-19 Mortality

The need for reliable and widely available SARS-CoV-2 testing is well recognized, but it will be equally necessary to develop quantitative methods that determine viral load in order to guide patient triage and medical decision making. We are the first to report that SARS-CoV-2 viral load at the time of presentation is an independent predictor of COVID-19 mortality in a large patient cohort (n=1,145). Viral loads should be used to identify higher-risk patients that may require more aggressive care and should be included as a key biomarker in the development of predictive algorithms.