The origin of SARS-CoV-2 in Istanbul: Sequencing findings from the epicenter of the pandemic in Turkey.

Objective: Turkey is one of the latest countries that COVID-19 disease was reported, with the first case on March 11, 2020, and since then, Istanbul became the epicenter of the pandemic in Turkey. Here, we reveal sequences of the virus isolated from three different patients with various clinical presentations.

Methods: Nasopharyngeal swab specimens of the patients were tested positive for the COVID-19 by qRT-PCR.