Antibody tests will soon be available to NHS and care staff, eligible patients and care residents across the Isle of Wight to see if they have had coronavirus.
The roll-out of antibody tests from next week is part of a new national programme announced by Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock.
Tests will be prioritised for NHS and care staff, and clinicians will be able to request them for patients in both hospital and social care settings if they deem it appropriate.
Under the new programme, highly accurate laboratory-based antibody tests will be used to tell whether someone has already had the virus, to provide accurate data about the antibodies they have developed in response. The information will help clinicians and scientists to better understand the prevalence of the virus in different regions across the country.
Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Matt Hancock said:
“Today [Thursday] we have signed contracts to supply over 10 million tests from Roche and Abbott supply in the coming months. From next week, we will begin rolling these out in a phased way. At first, to health and care staff, patients and residents.
“This is an important milestone and it represents further progress in our national testing programme. Knowing you have these antibodies will help us to understand in the future if you are at lower risk of catching coronavirus, dying from coronavirus and of transmitting coronavirus.
“History has shown that understanding an enemy is fundamental to defeating it. In this latest fight, our ingenuity and our brilliant scientists and our scientific curiosity is what will keep us one step ahead of this virus. We all have something to bring though in this fight – one action every one of us can take is to follow the rules on hygiene and social distancing. Not just for you, but for your loved ones and for your community. So please, stay alert, control the virus and save lives.
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A positive test result for antibodies, whichever test is used, does not currently mean that the person being tested is immune to COVID-19. There is also no firm evidence that the presence of antibodies means someone cannot be re-infected with the virus or will not pass it on to someone else. If someone tests positive, they still need to follow social distancing measures and appropriate use of PPE.
Antibody tests require blood samples, which will be collected by trained staff and analysed by existing pathology labs across England. Data on the number of positive and negative cases will be reported to PHE.
All islanders taking part in the track and trace app should surely have the test too to further enhance moving forward
Do the British Public ever get a chance to take part in these new trials etc. We would also like to get our lives back. By the time all the new ideas have been rolled out to the front line the rest of us will be dead
Those tests are inaccurate. You need blood taken from veins the Roche test is ok, I would avoid the governments one completely. In fact I would not use that app as Dido Harding is running track n trace. Remember she made a bollix running Talk Talk!