New antibody test to check you've ever had coronavirus – Covid-19: Top stories this morning – BBC
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It's Thursday 13th May 2020. Get the latest news, sport, business and weather from the BBC's Breakfast team live on iPlayer daily from 6am.
A test to find out whether people have ever been infected with coronavirus has been approved by health officials in England.
Public Health England said 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 may now have some immunity.
Until now, officials had said these tests were not sufficiently reliable.
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".
Why did the UK need 100,000 tests a day? 👉 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-51943612
Double warning over virus antibody tests 👉 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-52335210
New virus antibody test is 'fast and accurate' 👉 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-52529294
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.
Health officials in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland make their own decisions, but are likely to follow suit if England does adopt it.
The device already has approval from medical regulators in the EU and the United States.
But it is not yet clear what amount of immunity from coronavirus a patient might gain from having previously been infected.
BBC Breakfast | BBC News | BBC
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Stream original BBC programmes FIRST on BBC iPlayer 👉 https://bbc.in/2J18jYJ
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🔘 Stream BBC News live on BBC iPlayer 🔴 https://bbc.in/3b64IVP
🔘 Coronavirus / Covid-19 information: What should I do? 👉 https://bbc.in/39VY5VV
🔘 Follow BBC News live updates here 👉 https://bbc.in/2JmUswL
It’s Thursday 13th May 2020. Get the latest news, sport, business and weather from the BBC’s Breakfast team live on iPlayer daily from 6am.
A test to find out whether people have ever been infected with coronavirus has been approved by health officials in England.
Public Health England said 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 may now have some immunity.
Until now, officials had said these tests were not sufficiently reliable.
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”.
Why did the UK need 100,000 tests a day? 👉 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-51943612
Double warning over virus antibody tests 👉 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-52335210
New virus antibody test is ‘fast and accurate’ 👉 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-52529294
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.
Health officials in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland make their own decisions, but are likely to follow suit if England does adopt it.
The device already has approval from medical regulators in the EU and the United States.
But it is not yet clear what amount of immunity from coronavirus a patient might gain from having previously been infected.
BBC Breakfast | BBC News | BBC
#BBC #BBCiPlayer #BBCNews #BBCNewsLive #BBCCoronavirus #Coronavirus #Covid19 #CoronavirusOutbreak #Corona #CoronavirusUK
All our TV channels and S4C are available to watch live through BBC iPlayer, although some programmes may not be available to stream online due to rights. If you would like to read more on what types of programmes are available to watch live, check the ‘Are all programmes that are broadcast available on BBC iPlayer?’ FAQ 👉 https://bbc.in/2m8ks6v.
