Frontline staff to order antibody tests from Amazon ‘within days’

Frontline medical and social care staff could be able to order a test from Amazon to check if they have already contracted coronavirus within “days”, health officials have confirmed

Public Health England said 3.5 million testing kits had been purchased by the UK government and would be made available in the “near future”.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman confirmed the tests would be distributed via Amazon and at chemists like Boots.

They would allow key workers who have developed coronavirus antibodies, meaning they cannot contract the illness again, to stay on the front line. Last week, Boris Johnson said the tests would be a “game-changer” in the response to the virus.

However, it could take much longer for at-home testing kits to be rolled out to the wider public, with the Chief Medical Officer for England Professor Chris Whitty warning: “I do not think, and I want to be clear, that this is something we’ll be ordering on the internet next week.”

Prof Whitty told a press conference the tests would only be rolled out if they were shown to be accurate, saying: “Bad tests are worse than no tests.”

He added: “If they are incredibly accurate, we will work out the quickest way to release them. If they are not accurate, we will not release any of them.”

Data will also have to be collected on test results to verify how much of the population has contracted coronavirus without showing symptoms.

The Chief Scientific Adviser for England, Sir Patrick Vallance, yesterday cast doubt on an Oxford University study suggesting as much as 50 per cent of the UK population may already have had coronavirus, with most people suffering no ill-effects.

Sir Patrick said the claim could not be verified without widespread testing.

Professor Sharon Peacock, director of the National Infection Service at Public Health England, earlier told MPS on the Commons Science and Technology Committee: “Testing the test is a small matter, and I anticipate that it will be done by the end of this week.

“In the near future people will be able to order a test that they can test themselves, or go to Boots, or somewhere similar to have their finger prick test done.”

Prof Peacock said the testing kits would “absolutely” be available in “days, not weeks or months”. Asked how much the test would cost, she added: “I would have thought that it would be an absolutely minimal charge if there was a charge.”

The Prime Minister promised that tests for frontline medical staff would be rolled out “as soon as possible”, with the government coming under pressure for slow progress in increasing the number for tests on suspected cases.

Mr Johnson had pledged that tests for current infection would reach 25,000 per day by the end of this week, but yesterday only 6,491 were tested for the illness.

Prof Whitty blamed a huge worldwide shortage of testing kits.