An ‘immunity wristband’ could let us go back to work

BRITONS could be given an ‘immunity wristband’ if they pass a test which shows they have already had coronavirus.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the move will potentially grant members of the public a pass to return to normal life.

He told last night’s Question Time on BBC1: ‘When the science is good enough, we are looking at introducing something like an immunity certificate or a wristband that says “I’ve had it and I’m immune and I can’t pass it on and I’m highly unlikely to catch it”.

‘And we think that we will be able to get that but as of today, the scienwhile tists are not confident enough in understanding the progress of the disease after people have got through it and therefore the advice remains actually the same.’

Government sources said the wristbands or the German- style certificates would be most relevant for health staff, carers and volunteers who could look after infected patients knowing they were immune.

They dismissed concerns the ‘passes’ would create a two-tier system where those with them would be able to go to pubs and restaurants everyone else had to stay at home. Officials said the certificates were still in the ‘very early days’ and depended on a reliable antibody blood test becoming available and used in the population.

The idea comes from Germany where scientists are planning to send out hundreds of thousands of tests to establish how many people have built up immunity.

Anyone who passes the tests will be given a card proving they are immune, enabling them to reduce social distancing precautions.

Mr Hancock also revealed that one such antibody test – which could enable the certificates to be issued in the UK – had been trialled by Public Health England on 400 patients.

If early results suggest it is reliable, it could be given to 3,500 a week.

Differing from existing antigen tests used in hospitals, they involve a finger-prick blood test which detects whether the body has developed immunity to the virus after having it in the past.

Referring to the potential of this technique more generally, Professor John Newton of Public Health England said it had the potential to be ‘scaled up very quickly to a very large number of people – literally millions’.

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‘When the science is good enough’