Organizational Impact of an ID NOW™ COVID-19 Point-Of-Care Testing for SARS-Cov2 Detection in A Maternity Ward

Abstract

Background: SARS-CoV-2 has been responsible for more than 676 million cases of COVID-19 worldwide. RT-PCR is considered the “gold standard” for the diagnosis of patients suspected of having COVID-19. During the heightened waves of the pandemic, more rapid tests have been required. Point-of-care tests (POCT) for COVID-19 include antigen tests, serological tests, and other molecular-based platforms. The ID NOW™ COVID-19 assay (Abbott) performs an isothermal gene amplification of a target encoding the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase of SARSCoV-2. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the organizational impact following the implementation of a POC testing platform ID NOW™ in a maternity ward.