NHS workers ‘scared over protection’

New technology means we can have results in 30 minutes, say researchers PM wanting new test that shows if sufferers have developed immunity

THE GOVERNMENT has promised a fivefold increase in screening for coronavirus, meaning 25,000 tests a day.

Steps are also being taken to find out if patients who contracted the disease and recovered have developed immunity.

Scientists are working to develop faster and better methods of testing for the virus and one group of researchers has developed technology that can deliver results in 30 minutes.

But Prime Minister Boris Johnson is also calling on industry to work with the Government to urgently develop new tests that determine whether people have developed immunity, deemed as “game-changing” by the Government’s Chief Scientific Adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance.

Officials are working on rapidly increasing the number of tests that can be conducted by Public Health England and the NHS in laboratories, with the expected surge in capacity ready within just four weeks. There will be a focus on ensuring the highest priority cases are tested first.

It comes as it was confirmed 104 have now died from the virus, including four deaths in Yorkshire. The latest confirmed death was that of Leonard Gibson, 78, in Sheffield.

A man and a woman, both in their 70s, who were being treated at Mid Yorkshire Hospitals NHS Trust, and another patient at Harrogate and District Hospital, have also died.

As of yesterday, 105 people in Yorkshire had tested positive for the virus but the actual figure is likely to be far higher as testing is limited mainly to hospitals.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: “We are already among the best in the world for coronavirus testing and today we are launching a national effort to increase our testing capability even further.

“Our aim is to protect life, protect the most vulnerable and relieve pressure on our NHS so it is right that we prioritise testing for those most at risk of severe illness.”

The ramping up of testing will include developing a point-ofcare swab test outside of hospitals, so people with suspected symptoms can quickly find out if they have coronavirus. And officials have called on industry to help rapidly develop this test.

It is hoped the upscaling will help NHS and other critical public-sector staff back to work as fast as possible.

BORIS JOHNSON has insisted the UK has stockpiles of personal protective equipment for the NHS after some frontline staff said they were scared about shortages.

One doctor likened current protective equipment for some staff to “the type of thing you would wear if you were preparing food in a factory”.

And a GP surgery received face masks with 2016 expiry dates, with stickers placed over the best-before dates.

During Prime Minister’s Questions, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said: “NHS staff are on the frontline and many are scared because the guidance has been changed to say they do not need to wear full protective equipment when caring for patients.”

Mr Johnson said: “This is a huge concern to everyone that our NHS staff should feel they are able to interact with patients with perfect security and protection so there is a massive effort going on to ensure that we have an adequate supply of protection equipment, not just now but throughout the outbreak.”

The Government has already completed more than 50,000 tests and currently around 5,000 are carried out a day.

It is thought that with increased capacity to 25,000 daily, testing levels could soon exceed that in China.

Meanwhile Public Health England is developing an antibody test that will reveal who has had Covid-19 without showing symptoms.

Sir Patrick said work on this was “progressing very fast” and would provide a valuable insight into the pandemic. Sir Patrick said: “It is a game-changer.

“And the reason it’s a gamechanger is that it allows you to understand the proportion of the asymptomatic population – who’s had this disease but hasn’t had symptoms.

“Going forward it’s going to be critically important to be able to monitor this disease well because only by being able to monitor it can we start relaxing measures again.”

Mr Johnson added: “The great thing about having a test to see whether you’ve had it, is suddenly a green light goes on above your head and you can go back to work safe and confident in the knowledge that you are most unlikely to get it again.”

Deputy Chief Medical Officer Dr Jenny Harries said officials were also looking at Covid-19 tests that could be taken at home.

She explained: “As we go forward we have an ambition to have some sort of home-based test for the very reason which has been described here, which is we don’t want potentially infectious people arriving in hospitals.

“But we recognise that the public, and particularly our key workers, want to understand their status so they can get back to normal activities.”

She added that a lot of work was ongoing in that regard and that “huge” progress had been made in the last few weeks.

Researchers across the world are also working on improving current testing methods in the hope of yielding quicker results.

A team from the University of Oxford’s Engineering Science Department and the Oxford Suzhou Centre for Advanced Research has developed a new test, based on a technique which is capable of giving results in half an hour.

They say this is much faster than those that are being widely used and does not require a complicated instrument.

Previous viral RNA tests – using a sample of tissue or blood or other fluid – took one and a half to two hours to give a result.

The team, led by Professor Zhanfeng Cui and Professor Wei Huang, has been working to improve test capabilities as the virus spreads internationally.

Prof Huang said: “The beauty of this new test lies in the design of the viral detection that can specifically recognise SARS-CoV-2 (Covid-19) RNA and RNA fragments.

“The test has built-in checks to prevent false positives or negatives and the results have been highly accurate.”

Scientists say the technology is very sensitive, which means patients in the early stages of infection may be identified sooner, potentially helping to reduce the spread.

Hugh Pennington, the Emeritus Professor of Bacteriology at Aberdeen University, stressed that Britain needed to do a “hell of a lot more testing” to discover where “the virus is going under the radar”.