Diagnostic accuracy and utility of SARS-CoV-2 antigen lateral flow assays in medical admissions with possible COVID-19

We evaluated diagnostic accuracy of the Innova SARS-CoV-2 Antigen Rapid Qualitative Test compared to SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR from nasopharyngeal swabs in adult admissions who met the COVID-19 case definition at a busy acute hospital in the UK. We found the Innova SARS-CoV-2 Antigen Rapid Qualitative Test had a good specificity in patients with symptoms of COVID-19 presenting to hospital. The Innova LFA can be used to rapidly identify COVID-19 cases amongst hospital admissions meeting the COVID-19 case definition, allowing patients to be allocated to COVID-19 cohort areas.