Point-of-care serological assays for SARS-CoV-2 in a UK hospital population: potential for enhanced case finding
Abstract Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has become a global pandemic, causing over 3,600,000 reported cases and 250,000 deaths worldwide.1 Case identification has predominantly been made by real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) during the acute phase and largely restricted to healthcare laboratories. Serological assays are emerging but independent validation is urgently required to assess their utility. Where a plurality of point-of-care (POC) SARS-CoV-2 antibody test kits have become available, we will therefore aim to evaluate a range of kits against the current available gold-standard diagnostic test of PCR in an initial, exploratory study. We will then proceed to carry out testing with 200 hospital inpatients using the OrientGene COVID-19 IgG/IgM Rapid Test Cassette against PCR in order to undergo a preliminary evaluation of POC serological test performance characteristics within a hospital inpatient cohort.