Mass virus blood test for millions
Results show who’s immune – so they can return to work
A SIMPLE blood test to identify whether someone has had coronavirus could soon be available to millions.
Public Health England (PHE) said yesterday scientists were ‘days away’ from approving the test, described by Boris Johnson as a ‘game changer’.
It will be used initially to assess frontline staff including doctors, nurses, care home workers and teachers. Testing positive would show someone is virtually immune from the disease in the short term, allowing them to work.
Over time the test could be made available at high-street chemists and online, allowing millions to check themselves. The Health Service has bought 3.5million tests and ordering millions more.
However, the breakthrough was played down by chief medical officer Chris Whitty, who said the priority remained increasing the testing of health workers showing symptoms of the disease.
Limited capacity has meant testing has been focused on hospital patients showing signs of coronavirus. The failure to increase testing capacity more quickly has hindered the fight by forcing many
NHS staff with cold and flu symptoms to self-isolate even though they may not have the disease.
With every available health worker needed to tackle an expected surge in cases, the NHS cannot afford to have key staff off unnecessarily. Saffron Cordery, of
NHS Providers, said: ‘The immediate focus is on who has Covid-19 now, and despite the push to expand testing, it’s not going to be sufficient to cover patients and a significant number of the NHS’s 1.2million staff.’
Yesterday it emerged that up to 15 per cent of ambulance staff were self- isolating. The GMB trade union said crews were being left as ‘sitting ducks’.
At five of 11 ambulance trusts in England and Wales, almost 2,500 of 22,000 staff were absent at the beginning of the week. In London, the hardest-hit area, 850 of 5,800 staff were self-isolating – around 15 per cent of the workforce.
Downing Street said yesterday 6,491 people were tested for coronavirus on Tuesday, up from 5,605 the previous day.
As a new testing facility in Milton Keynes came on stream, No10 said it hoped to hit 10,000 a day next week and 25,000 a day by the second week of April.
But ministers have faced questions over why the Government has not acted faster. South Korea, which prioritised mass testing, was one of the first countries to get the virus under control. France is testing 9,000 a day and will reach 20,000 a day by the weekend.
Professor Whitty said: ‘We would like to test NHS and other critical workers who are self-isolating but are not being tested because we do not have sufficient capacity.’ He said this was a ‘global problem’.
In the Commons, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said testing should have been ramped up weeks ago ‘when the Government were first warned’. Mr Johnson said testing had been ‘a priority ever since the crisis was obviously upon us’.
Health sources said a new antibody test that will allow people to tell if they have had the disease could change the situation dramatically. Professor Sharon Peacock, of the National Infection Service at PHE, told MPs 3.5million tests had been bought and be available in the ‘near future’.
She added a small number of the tests would be tested in a laboratory before being distributed via Amazon and chemists such as Boots. Asked whether they would be available in days rather than weeks or months, she said: ‘Absolutely.’ But Professor Whitty cautioned it was still being evaluated, adding: ‘The only thing worse than no test is a bad test.’ For the latest coronavirus video news, views and expert advice, please visit mailplus.co. uk/coronavirus
‘Ambulance crews are sitting ducks’
‘YOUR country wants you’. The words, written alongside an image of steely-eyed Lord Kitchener in a British recruiting campaign during the First World War.
On Tuesday, Health Secretary Matt Hancock avoided using that iconic expression while urging members of the public to dedicate their precious time to help the NHS battle coronavirus. But it was undoubtedly the sentiment. If people turned a deaf ear, could they be blamed? After all, there can’t be a soul in the country who isn’t profoundly worried about their own loved ones’ well-being.
But the response from big-hearted British citizens has been magnificent. Within a day, the volunteer army soared past 500,000.
Each of those Good Samaritans will ease the strain on weary frontline doctors and nurses heroically treating patients stricken by Covid-19. By running simple, but valuable, errands they will cheer the 1.5million vulnerable people asked to cocoon themselves for three months to reduce the risk of catching the killer disease.
Whether delivering meals, picking up prescriptions, driving to appointments or being a caring voice at the end of the phone, they’ll prove priceless.
Some volunteers may be fretting about their own employment. Will their job even exist after the lockdown ends – whenever that might be? Yet still they’re going the extra mile to ensure the NHS beats this wicked contagion – and minimises lives lost.
Displaying unvarnished Blitz spirit, these community-minded citizens are pulling together in the national good.
Did the Mail ever doubt such an amazing outcome? Not for a millisecond. For our Hospital Helpforce campaign, which ran successfully during Christmas 2018, proved there is a huge thirst for volunteering.
If our appeal was the small candle that became an inferno of altruism during this appalling crisis, we couldn’t be more proud.
Once again, the kindliness and generosity of ordinary men and women, even as they live through the nation’s blackest days, remains resolutely undimmed.