Government in talks to bring new coronavirus antibody test to the UK after 'positive' new development
A VITAL test which could show whether people have ever been infected with coronavirus has been approved by health chiefs in England.
Public Health England has announced an antibody test, developed by Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche, is a ‘very positive development’.
The blood test looks for antibodies to see if a person has already had the virus and might now have some immunity.
It comes as the UK continues its work to try and find a vaccine to Covid-19, with scientists in Portsmouth among those involved in the effort.
Until now, officials have said any antibody test to identify who has already had coronavirus have not been reliable enough to use.
But sources say this is the first one to offer serious potential.
Experts at the government's Porton Down facility evaluated the test last week, Public Health England said, and found it to be ‘highly specific’.
Prof John Newton, national coordinator of the UK coronavirus testing programme, said: ‘This is a very positive development because such a highly specific antibody test is a very reliable marker of past infection.
‘This in turn may indicate some immunity to future infection, although the extent to which the presence of antibodies indicates immunity remains unclear.’
Roche is understood to be in talks with the Department of Health and Social Care about possible use by the NHS in England, though other testing products are also being assessed.
But it is not yet clear what amount of immunity from coronavirus a patient might gain from having previously been infected.
The swab tests currently being carried out in the UK determine whether someone has the virus at the time of the test.
The new blood tests would be available at pharmacists, doctors surgeries and hospitals.