Five million antibody kits are on hold for the NHS after officers passed a SECOND test

Five million kits of coronavirus antibodies are on hold for use by the NHS after health officials approved a second test.

The new test, produced by medical giant Abbott, received the green light from Public Health England, as it detected 100 percent of people who have had the virus.

It is the second antibody test to be ratified in two days, after the approval of a kit manufactured by Roche Diagnostics. Last night, Abbott said he had already begun shipping equipment to NHS labs in preparation for tests to be given to the first recipients in a matter of days.

A firm spokesman said it had the capacity to provide the UK with five million tests a month “with immediate effect.”

They are the first antibody tests that Public Health England ratified as accurate, after weeks of disappointment. Tests detect if someone has had the virus and then recovered, which could indicate that they may be immune.

The Health Department is in talks with both companies about incorporating the kits into its testing program, and NHS staff are likely to be the first to gain access. The Abbott test is also privately sold for home use by health technology company Babylon for £ 69.

The test’s home use, which uses a blood stain from a puncture rather than a whole blood sample, has only been confirmed as accurate by an independent laboratory, and not yet by Public Health England.

PHE said the ratification of the two tests carried out in its laboratories was a “very positive development”.

Both are likely to be used in the “test, track and trace” program launching next week, which will examine anyone who has been in contact with a coronavirus patient. Last night, scientists stressed that although the two tests offer useful information about who has been infected, it is still unclear what proportion of these people will be immune to the disease.

The idea of ​​”immunity certificates” has been shelved for now because of this, although No 10 said it was still exploring it.

Hopes have risen since March that antibody tests could allow employees to return to work.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock ordered 3.5 million tests, but it turned out that the best of them could detect only 70 percent of those infected. The new tests solve that problem by using proven laboratory-based technology, rather than the “pregnancy test” style kits Hancock had pinned on his hopes. They also generate very few “false positives”, which means that someone has been infected when they have not.

Professor Matt Keeling of the University of Warwick said: “This could completely change the game.” Both tests are expected to eventually be made available for free as part of the national testing program, although it is unclear whether people will be able to simply order them.

‘Game-changing’ antibody test to go to frontline NHS workers first, could be implemented in ‘days,’ says government adviser

• Roche’s new antibody tests will be available first to front-line workers
• The tests, which are 100% accurate, will be implemented across the UK.
• The test determines if the patient was exposed to Covid-19 and developed antibodies
• Health Department in talks with Swiss pharmaceutical firm to buy millions of kits

Frontline workers, including those on the NHS, will be the first to have a new antibody test for Covid-19, said England’s deputy chief medical officer.

Professor Jonathan Van-Tam said it was clear that people who had Covid-19 generated an antibody response, but that it would “take time” to understand whether people developed immunity to the coronavirus in all cases.

He said the data needed to be collected over time to understand whether any immune responses offered protection for life or only for a few years.

Public Health England (PHE) approved a new test from pharmaceutical giant Roche after experts at its Porton Down facility gave it the green light.

The test, which Prime Minister Boris Johnson has previously called a “game changer,” detects cases in which someone has had coronavirus in the past and can be used in people who did not experience symptoms.

The Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche’s test is 100% accurate, which means it will identify everyone who has had COVID-19. Experts hope that these people may be immune to contracting the infection again for up to three years.

Ministers are now in talks with Roche to buy millions of the kits, which officials announced today that they would be given first to the NHS and social care workers before being more widely deployed. Requires blood samples to be taken by trained doctors.

Experts say the lab test, which is not designed to give people a result in their own home, is unlikely to be available to buy privately, at least initially. It is unclear how much the tests could cost, whether they can be purchased, and when.

In addition to the USA. In the USA, Germany was also ahead of Britain in the race to get the lab tests, ordering millions of tests earlier this month after the kit received the vital ‘CE mark’ proving it is safe to use in Europe.

Antibody tests, which may require only a small amount of blood, are designed to determine if someone has contracted the virus in the past. They don’t tell precisely if someone is currently infected.

They are considered key to facilitating blocking because they paint the clearest picture of how widespread COVID-19 is. The true size of Britain’s outbreak is a mystery because health chiefs abandoned a massive testing regimen early in the crisis.

Professor Van-Tam said the test would be “incredibly important” in the coming weeks and months, and said at press conference number 10: “I anticipate that it will be implemented quickly in the coming days and weeks, as soon as possible.” . practical.

“I also anticipate that the focus will be on the national health service and the primary caregivers.”

Experts believe that those who have had Covid-19 develop a degree of immunity, which means the test could be a useful tool to help alleviate blocking restrictions.

Issue 10 said the new antibody test would “certainly” be available on the NHS, but business talks with Roche are ongoing.

The prime minister’s official spokesman said the idea of ​​a “certificate of immunity” was also being considered if science showed that people developed immunity to Covid-19.

Professor John Newton, national coordinator of the UK Coronavirus Testing Program, said that while it was still unclear to what extent the presence of antibodies indicated immunity, the test was a “very positive development” and was a “very reliable marker of past infections. “

He added: “This in turn may indicate some immunity to future infections, although the extent to which the presence of antibodies indicates immunity remains unclear.”

Roche said it could supply hundreds of thousands of tests each week. The tests are run on fully automated equipment already extensively installed by Roche at NHS sites across the UK.

The pharmaceutical company said it would prioritize distribution testing through the NHS before looking at how it can be sold to people.

Professor Sir John Bell, professor of medicine at the University of Oxford, said that the development of the antibody test was “a good result”.

He told Radio 4’s Today show: ‘It is a step in the right direction. In the evolution of these antibody tests, getting one that works really well is a huge step forward. ”

Sir John said the antibodies “probably stay for a year or two,” adding that the Roche test was the “best-approved test available on the market now.”

Health Minister Edward Argar said the government intends to implement the new test for front-line workers first.

Speaking at the BBC breakfast, Mr. Argar said: “ The UK Public Health assessment just happened to be reliable, like doing the job, and therefore we are having those discussions.

“But we are eager to get as many as fast as we can and get them out, primarily to the front line, the NHS, social care, and then more widely.

Argar stressed that the public was still unable to obtain the exam and said: “We are not yet in a position to release it to the public and have those tests ready to start.”

A spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Social Assistance said: “We are exploring the use of antibody testing throughout the NHS and, ultimately, in the general public.”

But Professor Matthew Baylis, an expert in veterinary epidemiology at the University of Liverpool, questioned the test, suggesting that it could produce false-positive results and lead people to be calm when they shouldn’t.

The findings have been hailed as a “very positive development” in Britain’s antibody testing plans, after weeks of disappointment regarding the promised launch of DIY home kits.

Despite promising home tests, the UK has yet to approve any because health chiefs insist they can’t find a finger-stick kit accurate enough, despite evaluating only a handful of tests.

A million-pound award-winning company by health chiefs, Mologic, based in Bedfordshire, hopes to have its kit ready for the British to buy from online retailers like Boots and Amazon in early June.

Sir John Bell, an immunologist at Oxford University involved in evaluating antibody kits for the government, said today that approval of the Roche test was a “step in the right direction”, but admitted that approval leads ” longer than it should. “

He suggested that officials wanted to be completely sure that the evidence was accurate, and told BBC Radio 4 Today: ‘I think you should be a little cautious. It took a week or two more than it could have.

‘But remember when the test came out at home and people were quick to say that this is all great. We decided that we should stop and pause and just make sure they were what they were made to be.

‘And when we tried them, of course, they didn’t work, so I think you should be a little cautious. It took a week or two more than it could have.

Sir John added: ‘This is not like the hyssop test where there is a certain urgency to put that into play. Once you get antibodies, your antibodies will probably stay for a year or two.

“And everything it tells you, just to be crystal clear, is whether you’ve had the infection or not, so in terms of treating patients where there’s a real emergency, I think it’s less important.”

“To be clear, it is the best approved test available on the market right now, but there will be more iterations of these tests because there are ways to improve them.”

Following today’s announcement, shares of Roche, which is also conducting swab tests for the government, rose slightly to 45.03 this morning, slightly more than the 44.86 recorded late yesterday.

The news of the test comes as:

• Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick admitted the situation in nursing homes was “absolutely dire” as the government prepared to lay out more details on how a £ 600 million package will be spent for infection control in England

• 126,064 tests were performed on Wednesday.

• An average of 148,000 people in England had Covid-19 between April 27 and May 10 (closing period), according to new estimates by the Office for National Statistics, the equivalent of 0.27% of the population.

• Transportation Secretary Grant Shapps said more than half of the people on the Isle of Wight have downloaded the NHS contact tracking app.

The findings come as A&E attendance and emergency admissions to hospitals in England have dropped to their lowest recorded number for the coronavirus.

Data released by NHS England shows that 0.9 million A&E assists were recorded in April 2020, 57% less than 2.1 million in April 2019.

The number is the lowest for any calendar month since current records began in August 2010.

NHS England, which released the figures, said the drop “is likely the result of Covid-19’s response,” an indication that people have been kept away from A&E departments due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Emergency admissions to A&E departments in England’s hospitals also showed a sharp drop last month, up 39% from 535,226 in April 2019 to 326,581 in April 2020.

This is the lowest number reported for any calendar month since current records began.

Data on all cancer referrals also showed an 8% drop.

GPs made 181,873 urgent cancer referrals in England in March 2020, down from 198,418 in March 2019.

Urgent referrals for breast cancer showed a further decline, from 17,137 in March 2019 to 12,411 in March 2020, a drop of 28%.

Lynda Thomas, executive director of Macmillan Cancer Support, said: “Cancer must not become the forgotten ‘C’ in this pandemic.

“The government’s guidance for emergency cancer services to continue during the virus did not happen uniformly and it is now vital that we see comprehensive plans on how the NHS will catch up.”

Admissions for all routine surgeries in England hospitals in March 2020 totaled 207,754, compared to 305,356 in March 2019, a drop of 32%.