Evaluation of a Commercial Point-of-Care RT-LAMP Assay for Rapid Detection of SARS-CoV-2

The goal of this study was to evaluate the performance of a commercial reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) assay (Detect COVID-19 Test) in the detection of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). A total of 202 human respiratory and viral culture specimens were tested retrospectively. The performance of the Detect COVID-19 Test was comparable to that of commercial real-time polymerase chain reaction assays (sensitivity: 93.42%; specificity: 100%), and better than that of the rapid antigen test (sensitivity: 48.00%; specificity: 100%) for specimens with threshold cycle (Ct) values of less than 30. The Beta, Delta, and Omicron variants of concern were successfully detected. With their simplicity of use and good assay sensitivity, point-of-care RT-LAMP assays may be a viable option for SARS-CoV-2 testing at home, or in regions without sophisticated laboratory facilities.