Fast-working fingerprick coronavirus antibody tests pass first major trials

A woman undergoes a fingerprick test in France
Getty Images
Kit Heren18 July 2020

Ministers are preparing to roll out fast-working fingerprick tests that can tell if a person has had coronavirus after they passed their first major trials, according to reports.

The antibody tests, which work by taking blood from the tip of the finger and give results in just 20 minutes, were found to be 98.6 per cent accurate in secret tests carried out in June.

And now the Government is making plans to buy millions of the tests and send them out to people across the UK, The Daily Telegraph reported.

But the Standard understands that no antibody tests - including this model - have been approved for home use yet.

The UK Rapid Test Consortium (UK-RTC), a partnership between Oxford University and several UK diagnostics firms, led the development of the new test.

A nurse carrying out an antibody test on an ambulance driver 
REUTERS

The only antibody tests given approval so far need blood samples to be sent to laboratories, which can take days to produce a result.

The Telegraph reported that tens of thousands of the new test have already been made in factories across the UK, ahead of the expected approval.

The Government is reportedly hoping to use the new tests in a large scale screening programme this year.

Chris Hand, who leads the UK-RTC, told the Telegraph: "It was found to be 98.6 per cent accurate, and that's very good news.

Coronavirus testing staff
PA

"We're now scaling up with our partners to produce hundreds of thousands of doses every month."

He added that the Department of Health is in talks with UK-RTC over buying millions of tests before the end of the year.

The tests will be available for free online rather than being sold in supermarkets.

People who have had coronavirus may be immune once they have recovered, although scientists say this is still unclear.

A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said: “We have received an extraordinary response to our call to action to supply antibody tests and we continue to work with industry to identify further tests that are safe and accurate to be used at home.

“While these tests will help us better understand how Covid-19 is spreading across the country, we do not yet know whether antibodies indicate immunity from reinfection or transmission.”

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