The government has agreed to a deal to acquire antibody tests, a spokesman for Prime Minister Boris Johnson said yesterday, saying the tests would be free and health and care workers would be prioritised.
Mass antibody testing is being considered by many countries as a way to speed the reopening of economies devastated by lockdowns and to introduce more tailored social distancing measures.
Britain has been in talks with Swiss drugmaker Roche Holding AG to buy an accurate Covid-19 antibody test, following the lead of the European Union and US which have already given preliminary approval to the tests.
“Have we now agreed a deal on the antibody testing? The answer to that is yes,” the spokesman told reporters.
The antibody tests — also known as a serology test — show who has been infected, although it is not yet clear whether the presence of antibodies to the new coronavirus, Sars-CoV-2, confers permanent immunity.
Earlier this month, the spokesman said there was the possibility of issuing some kind of certificate based on immunity but that scientists still needed to know more about that subject area.
Meanwhile, the government’s system for tracing those with the coronavirus was under fire yesterday as it grappled with the development of a tracking app and health workers warned the government that unless there was clarity it could suffer a second deadly wave.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Wednesday a “world-beating” programme to trace and test those suspected of having been in contact with people who have tested positive for Covid-19 would be in place by June 1.
Britain is currently testing the app — based on Bluetooth — on the Isle of Wight off the southern coast of England where the government says more than half the residents had downloaded it.
James Brokenshire, the junior interior minister in charge of security, said there were technical issues with the app but that traditional measures could be rolled out first.
“The track and trace system is going to be ready,” Brokenshire told Sky News.
“We obviously want to see that the app is put in place well and effectively, learning from the experience on the Isle of Wight and dealing with all of the feedback that we’re receiving on some of the technical issues, to ensure that the app is as strong as we can make it.”
But Britain’s progress has been criticised: opposition lawmakers said an earlier promise of a nationwide roll-out of a National Health Service (NHS)-developed smartphone app had slipped from the middle of this month.
Rival technology developed by Apple and Google was launched in several other countries on Wednesday.
The companies said they were in talks with Britain about the system.
The NHS Confederation, a group which represents the health service’s organisations, said the United Kingdom was at risk of a second jump in cases without clarity on government strategy.
“The relaxation of restrictions based on scientific advice is the right approach but it must be accompanied by an effective test, track and trace strategy which enables us to monitor local spread of the disease,” the confederation said.
“To achieve this we must have national, local and cross-agency involvement. Without this, we do face the risk of a second wave of infections.”
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