Testing promised for vital NHS frontline staff

There are two types of tests for Covid-19 – one that tells you if you have the virus at present and another which tells you if you have had a past infection.

If you are a member of the public feeling ill at home, you most likely will not get the antigen test telling you whether you have coronavirus.

Thereisasmallamount of random sampling going on via GP surgeries but most testing is of patients admitted to hospital.

The NHS is prioritising the testing of seriously ill people in hospital to help inform treatment but also to collate numbers of those affected.

The UK Government also hopes to start rolling out testing for Covid-19 to NHS frontline workers in the next few days.

A large part of the workforce may be self-isolating at home unnecessarily, either because they have symptoms or somebody in their house does.

Knowing whether these NHS workers truly have coronavirus could help them get back to work quickly – which the NHS desperately needs.

There has been no announcement regarding testing for other key workers.

The NHS is aiming to get to 25,000 of these tests per day, with the ultimate aim being several hundred thousand.

The development of a separate antibody blood test – which can tell whether people have had Covid-19 at some point in the past – would be a “game-changer”, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said.

Such a test would enable people to get back to work if they have already had coronavirus – important for getting the economy going again.

Testing could help get NHS staff back to work quickly