COVID-19 Asymptomatic Testing with POC LumiraDx SARS-CoV-2 Antigen Test

Accurate diagnosis is essential for identifying and managing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in point-of-care settings and for the implementation of effective infection-control measures.

Currently, the most sensitive testing method for the presence of SARS-CoV-2 is reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) using nasopharyngeal swabs, which poses challenges to community-based asymptomatic screening, such as the requirement for laboratory testing and subsequent delays in reporting results to individuals, who may not isolate themselves until their result has been confirmed.

In view of these challenges, this research study investigated the LumiraDx SARS-CoV-2 Ag Test as an aid in COVID-19 asymptomatic testing of infection in adults and children in 5 point-of-care (POC) settings. The results show high agreement between the LumiraDx SARS-CoV-2 Ag Test and the reference RT-PCR test in asymptomatic participants who had been in recent contact with a COVID-19–positive individual or undergoing testing for work purposes

The LumiraDx SARS-CoV-2 Ag Test evaluation in asymptomatic patients demonstrated 82.1% positive percent agreement and 100% negative percent agreement compared with reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction.

This study suggests that the microfluidic immunofluorescence point-of-care LumiraDx SARS-CoV-2 Ag Test is a valuable tool for the rapid screening of individuals without symptoms in both community and health care settings to limit the spread of COVID-19.