Coronavirus: Antibody tests will be available on the NHS – as latest figures reveal 338 more UK deaths

Coronavirus antibody tests will be available on the NHS following agreements between the government and pharmaceutical firms Roche and Abbott.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the government has signed contracts to supply 10 million antibody tests – which show if someone has had COVID-19 and potentially developed immunity.

The roll-out will start with health and care staff, patients and residents from next week.

He told the government’s daily briefing: “The UK government has arranged supplies of these tests on behalf of the
devolved administrations and each devolved nation is deciding how to use its test allocation and how testing will be prioritised and managed locally.

“This is an important milestone and it represents further progress in our national testing programme.”

Earlier, the prime minister’s official spokesman told reporters: “The tests will be free for people who need them, as you would expect.

“NHS and care workers will be prioritised for the tests.”

Mr Hancock also announced 338 more people have died with the virus, according to the UK government, taking the total to 36,042.

Across the four nations:

• 187 were reported by NHS England
• 37 were announced in Scotland by First Minister Nicola Sturgeon
• Nine were confirmed by Public Health Wales
• Seven were declared by the Northern Irish health department

The discrepancy between the total UK figure and the individual home nations is due to each authority calculating their deaths in different ways and at different times.

The coronavirus antibody blood tests, made by Swiss pharmaceutical firm Roche and US firm Abbott Laboratories, were given approval by Public Health England on 14 May after scientists at its Porton Down facility found the test was “highly specific” and had an accuracy of 100%.

England’s deputy chief medical officer, Professor Jonathan Van-Tam, last week promised the tests would be rolled out “rapidly”.

He cautioned it could take up to 28 days after someone is infected before the test can properly confirm if a person did have the virus.

It will “take time” to monitor how much people with antibodies have immunity from the virus and how long it could last for, he explained.

The tests were heralded by Prime Minister Boris Johnson as being a “game-changer” for lifting lockdown because someone who finds out they have antibodies can be “safe and confident in the knowledge that you are most unlikely to get it again”.

But John Edmunds, professor of infectious disease modelling at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, has warned studies of other coronaviruses suggest “potentially bad news” for hopes humans could develop a long-term immunity.

He told a parliamentary committee on Tuesday: “We can also see from other coronaviruses, from ones that cause coughs and colds, that individuals again do seem to not have particularly long-term immunity to many of those viruses, allowing them to get reinfected later…

“Immunity may not last that long against this virus.”

A report prepared by the government’s top scientific advisers also warned if antibody tests come into widespread use some employers might start discriminating against those who haven’t had the virus.

“This might include not permitting those testing antibody negative to return to work, or only taking on new staff with antibody positive test results,” their paper compiled in mid-April cautioned.

(c) Sky News 2020: Coronavirus: Antibody tests will be available on the NHS – as latest figures reveal 338 more UK deaths