‘100 per cent accurate’ antibody tests to tell millions of Britons if they have ALREADY had coronavirus ‘will be available in TWO WEEKS’ – as Boris Johnson plans primetime broadcast to unveil the nation’s route back to school and work
- Roche Diagnostics has created a kit that they claim is accurate enough to be used by millions of Britons
- Roche claims its ‘Elecsys’ test can spot 100 per cent of people who have had virus – with no false negatives
- The firm also says that it has enough stock to provide hundreds of thousands of tests to the NHS every week
- Boris Johnson is planning a primetime broadcast to the nation on Sunday to unveil the route out of lockdown
Accurate antibody tests that are able to tell millions of Britons if they have had coronavirus are set to be rolled out across the UK within a fortnight, it has been claimed.
Testing giant Roche Diagnostics claims it has created a kit accurate enough to be used at scale – and the firm says it has enough stock to provide hundreds of thousands to the NHS every week.
It comes after weeks of disappointment regarding Britain’s mass roll-out of antibody tests, which are designed to tell if someone has contracted the virus in the past and indicate whether they may now be immune. They do not accurately tell if someone is currently infected.
Despite promising home antibody tests, the UK has not yet approved any because the Government insists it can’t find a DIY finger-prick kit that is accurate enough – despite only evaluating a handful of tests.
Switzerland-based Roche claims its lab-based ‘Elecsys’ test, which isn’t designed to give people a result in their own home, can spot 100 per cent of people who have not had the coronavirus and 99.8 per cent of people who have been infected.
The blood sample kit, which can be processed by machines already used in NHS labs across the country, has been granted the vital ‘CE mark’ that shows it is safe. Medics can get results in just 18 minutes.
Insiders say it is unlikely the tests will be available to purchase privately, at least initially, because officials wouldn’t be able to access the data they desperately need to plot the spread of the virus. It is not clear how much the tests could cost, if and when they can be purchased.
Instead, the test is likely to play a role in the Government’s ‘surveillance’ programme, which will see nurses take blood samples from a thousand households and send them to Oxford University laboratories so officials can work out how far the virus has spread in Britain.
Ministers are currently clueless as to how big the UK’s outbreak truly is because of their controversial decision to abandon a widespread testing regime before the crisis began to take hold and spread throughout Britain.
Antibody tests are considered key to easing the draconian lockdown and getting Britain back on its feet because they give the clearest possible picture of how widespread the coronavirus is in the UK.
The breakthrough will fuel Boris Johnson’s plans to ease the UK’s lockdown, with the PM giving a timeline for when workplaces and schools will reopen in a prime-time TV broadcast to the nation next Sunday.
Roche Diagnostics says it could roll out 100 per cent accurate antibody tests within two weeks (pictured is an antibody test centre in west London)
Boris Johnson is planning to tell Britain to prepare to return to work in a prime-time TV broadcast to the nation next Sunday evening
The UK announced 315 new coronavirus deaths Sunday, bringing total fatalities to 28,446 and putting the country on course to become the hardest hit in Europe
It is hoped the new antibody tests could help the UK ease out of lockdown – pictured are cyclists exercising in Regents Park in London on Saturday
