A coronavirus antibody test that requires only a finger prick, takes just 20 minutes for a result and is virtually 100% accurate, could be available by the end of the year, says the developer.
The UK Rapid Testing Consortium, made up of the University of Oxford and several British diagnostic firms, completed the first major human trials last month, the Sun reported.
“It was found to be 98.6 percent accurate, and that is very good news,” consortium leader Chris Hand told the Daily Telegraph. “We are now expanding our partners to produce hundreds of thousands of doses every month.”
Britain is now planning to buy millions of tests for a free mass detection program that could be up and running before the end of the year, the Sun reported. The test can also be requested online.
However, the Department of Health and Social Assistance wants more evidence of the test’s reliability and whether the antibodies really protect a person from contracting the infection again, the media outlet reported.
“While these tests will help us better understand how coronavirus is spreading across the country, we still don’t know if the antibodies indicate immunity against reinfection or transmission,” said a department spokesman.
.
