TESTS FOR MILLIONS WILL HELP BEAT VIRUS
● Study claims 50% of us may have been infected ● 250,000 Britons urged to join volunteer army
MILLIONS of new antibody tests will help Britain defeat coronavirus, Matt Hancock vowed last night.
He said 3.5 million of the tests had been purchased by the Government as he called for an army of
250,000 volunteers to come forward to support the NHS during the coronavirus crisis.
Health Secretary Mr Hancock said the tests bought by the Government will show if people have had Covid-19.
A new testing facility for coronavirus has now opened in Milton Keynes, Bucks, and the Government was “ramping up” checks, he announced.
He also said 35,000 extra health service workers will be joining the fight, including retired doctors and nurses and final-year students.
Mr Hancock said he now wants to recruit a quarter of a million fit and healthy “NHS volunteers” to deliver medicines, shop and help support the most vulnerable.
The moves came after the Government faced criticism over a lack of testing for Covid-19, including among NHS workers.
Mr Hancock said: “I understand why NHS staff, in particular, and others across public service are so keen to get testing ramped up.
“Of course it really matters for getting people getting back to work, so we have now bought 3.5 million antibody tests.
“That will allow people to see whether they have had the virus and are immune to it and then can get back to work.”
The Government has been working to increase testing amid widespread concern that the UK has no clear idea how many people have coronavirus.
NHS staff are also calling for tests, with some forced into isolation under current rules when a negative test would enable them to go back to work.
Mr Hancock said the Government was “in the middle” of buying the tests that are needed, adding that his team would make them available as quickly as possible.
He also confirmed a temporary hospital, NHS Nightingale, will be opened at East London’s ExCel exhibition centre next week.
And he stressed the “radical” lockdown imposed by Prime Minister Boris Johnson was necessary to slow the spread of the disease.
He warned members of the public continuing to ignore the measures that the changes were “not requests, they are rules”.
Downing Street has made clear it will go further if needed and confirmed the £30 fines for flouting the lockdown will be kept under review. It “can increase it significantly if it is necessary to ensure public compliance”.
Failure to pay a penalty notice could be subject to criminal proceedings and a conviction.
Mr Hancock said he believes the public knows it is “vital we get a grip on the virus and slow it down”. The full impact of the lockdown began to hit home yesterday as the nation adjusted to the tough new rules.
During a Downing Street press conference, which saw reporters ask questions by video link to avoid gathering in No 10, above, deputy chief medical officer Dr Jenny Harries said couples who live separately could be spreading coronavirus if they continue to see each other.
She recommended they consider moving in with one another during the strict restrictions on movement.
She added: “What we do not want is people switching in and out of households.
“It defeats the purpose of reductions in social interactions.”