What specific markers does a Covid-19 PCR test look for?
The SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic tests that are currently in use, both serological and nasal swab, are binary tests - they either are positive or negative, like a pregnancy test. They do not (yet) report viral titre, like the first image you linked, or look at restriction enzyme &quot;gene fingerprinting&quot; patterns, like the second. They simply tell you if either a part of the virus is in the sample (RNA or capsid protein in the two nasal swab tests) or if your immune system has seen enough of the virus to mount an antibody-mediated immune response (the IgM/IgG blood tests).
It's worth pointing out that all of the current tests in the US are available under emergency use authorizations from the FDA, meaning they haven't gone through the usual (and time-consuming) process of full qualification and validation. That type of work needs to be done in order to develop quantitative testing (&quot;You have a viral titre of X, compared to an average range of Y through Z.&quot;), which will likely appear in the coming months and years as the proper development work is done to support their validity.