Antibody testing kits not ready in U.K.

LONDON, ROME • Seventeen and a half million coronavirus antibody tests promised by ministers are unlikely to be ready until June, potentially extending the lockdown by weeks, it has emerged.

Industry leaders commissioned by the British government to produce home testing kits have told the Daily Telegraph that they were “mystified” by suggestions the technology would be imminently available to the public. A blood test that detects whether a person has already contracted COVID-19 — as opposed to the antigen test, which flags a current infection — is considered by many experts to be vital for easing the restrictions paralyzing Britain.

Last week, health officials said finger-prick blood tests could become widely available via Amazon or Boots “within weeks”. Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson has described the kits as a potential “game-changer”.

On Friday Matt Hancock, the health secretary, appeared to distance himself from the earlier statements, suggesting antibody tests will not necessarily form part of the overall target of 100,000 daily coronavirus tests he announced on Thursday.

Now, the medical director of a biotech company given $1.7 million by the Department of Health to pioneer an antibody test has urged the public to be patient.

Dr. Joe Fitchett, of Mologic, said its own rapid diagnostic test would only be available from June at the earliest, and expressed skepticism that other kits could be ready for use sooner than that.

“That’s very fast to produce something from a prototype,” he said.

This week Spain said it was returning 640,000 rapid testing kits made in China after it emerged they only had a 30 per cent accuracy rate, rather than the 80 per cent expected.

Pressure on British ministers increased as Italy announced they are about to commence antibody testing in one of the worst hit regions.

Officials in Veneto region, which includes Venice, plan to test 100,000 doctors and nurses and then roll out the tests to the general population.

Experts there are using a test that costs around $15 and delivers a result in an hour. Luca Zaia, governor of Veneto, said a positive test would give a person an “immunity licence”, enabling them to resume a normal life.

Berlin also announced it’s planning to bring in immunity certificates as part of preparations to cease its lockdown, and British health officials have also indicated a similar scheme may be tried in the U.K. The accuracy of the Italian test, made by Snibe Diagnostics, is not known.

Meanwhile, the Mayo Clinic, one of the world’s most advanced health care facilities, announced it is close to unveiling an accurate antibody test.