How to design and implement a university-based COVID-19 testing programme? An evaluation of a novel RT-LAMP COVID-19 testing programme in a UK university.

Background: Little is known about how asymptomatic testing as a method to control transmission of COVID-19 can be implemented, and the prevalence of asymptomatic infection within university populations. The objective of this study was to investigate how to effectively set-up and implement a COVID-19 testing programme using novel reverse transcriptase loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP) technology and to quantify the scale of asymptomatic infection on a university campus.

Methods: An observational study to describe the set-up and implementation of a novel COVID-19 testing programme on a UK university campus between September and December 2020.