The safety of the patient is the highest priority when providing a recipient with a tissue transplant. When screening a potential donor, the presence of infectious diseases is therefore also considered, which requires special attention in view of the current SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Reliable test systems for the detection of the novel virus and its determination during all phases of infection are a prerequisite for a reliable statement on the risk of transmission of the virus through a corneal transplant. The case of a 70-year-old cornea donor with a positive SARS-CoV-2 result, which is documented here, demonstrates the difficulty of a meaningful donor test.