The current scenario, an ongoing
pandemic of COVID-19, places a
dreadful burden on the healthcare system worldwide. Subsequently,
there is a need for a rapid, user-friendly, and inexpensive on-site
monitoring system for diagnosis. The early and rapid diagnosis of
SARS-CoV-2 plays an important role in combating the outbreak. Although
conventional methods such as PCR, RT-PCR, and ELISA, etc., offer a
gold-standard solution to manage the pandemic, they cannot be implemented
as a point-of-care (POC) testing arrangement. Moreover, surface-enhanced
Raman spectroscopy (SERS) having a high enhancement factor provides
quantitative results with high specificity, sensitivity, and multiplex
detection ability but lacks in POC setup. In contrast, POC devices
such as lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA) offer rapid, simple-to-use,
cost-effective, reliable platform. However, LFIA has limitations in
quantitative and sensitive analyses of SARS-CoV-2 detection. To resolve
these concerns, herein we discuss a unique modality that is an integration
of SERS with LFIA for quantitative analyses of SARS-CoV-2. The miniaturization
ability of SERS-based devices makes them promising in biosensor application
and has the potential to make a better alternative of conventional
diagnostic methods. This review also demonstrates the commercially
available and FDA/ICMR approved LFIA kits for on-site diagnosis of
SARS-CoV-2.