The COVID-19 pandemic highlights the need for fast and simple assays for nucleic acid detection. As an isothermal alternative to RT-qPCR, we outline the development of a detection scheme for SARS-CoV-2 RNA based on reverse transcription recombinase polymerase amplification (RT-RPA) technology. RPA uses recombination proteins in combination with a DNA polymerase for rapid amplification of target DNA at a constant temperature (39-42 °C) within 10 to 20 minutes and can be monitored in real-time with fluorescent probes. © Die Autoren 2020.