A Clinical Evaluation of COVID-19 Rapid Point of Care Antigen Tests

The current standard of care for diagnosis of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome associated Coronavirus -2 (SARS-CoV-2 ) infection involves sample collection to be prepared and measured via real time-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). This process is often time consuming depending on the level of automation within the laboratory processing the samples. In many cases, sample turn-around times can take hours to several days. A rapid assay that does not require the sophisticated laboratory equipment and techniques could provide a significant advantage to the way practitioners screen and ultimately treat patients. Moreover, the collection of samples from the nasal nares should prove useful and less invasive. The study aims to validate the use of nasal swabs and also to validate the antigen test using nasal swabs.