Will COVID-19 be the coming of age for point-of-care testing?

Abstract

BACKGROUND As countries deal with the COVID-19 pandemic in varying ways, one area of agreement is the need to test for the COVID-19 virus in as many people as possible. Beeching et al have rightly pointed out that ‘tests cannot be interpreted if they are not available’.1 However, as reported in the UK media, access to COVID-19 (viral) testing has been limited for some sections of the population including healthcare professionals and carers. There have also been long delays in getting the results back to the person being tested. This has now been addressed by increasing the number of specimen collection stations and the use of home collection kits, although the return of results can take several days.