Name: Breakthrough Roche antibody test to be rushed to NHS staff and carers
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Breakthrough Roche antibody test to be rushed to NHS staff and carers

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breakthrough antibody test is to be rushed out to health workers so they can safely work in hospitals and care homes, a health minister said today.Edward Argar also stressed that contracting appears to give people a level of immunity against the killer infection.The developments raised hopes of “Covid passports” being issued soon to millions of people to show they have had the infection and can return to work to boost Britain’s economy.The Government is planning to order millions of the tests from Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche after it was approved by Public Health England at its high-secure laboratory at Porton Down, Wiltshire.Mr Argar told Talk Radio: “It is really positive news that PHE are giving the green light to a test that they think is reliable and will give people that assurance whether they have had the virus or not.“The level of immunity that [having had the virus] gives you is still being scientifically debated but it looks like it does give you a level of immunity.”Scientists are urgently investigating how much immunity people receive and how long it lasts, with those hardest hit believed to be better protected from re-infection.The hotly anticipated news on a reliable antibody test is believed to be a game-changer in the battle against Covid-19.Mr Argar added: “Negotiations are going on at pace with Roche. I want those to conclude as swiftly as we possibly can to get those tests rolled out.“When we do roll them out, it’s important that they go to the frontline first, NHS workers, care home workers, to make sure they know ... whether they can safely keep working.“On the basis of our understanding of the immunity it gives at the moment, having had the virus, it looks like those staff will then be able to safely carry on working without ... worrying that they will get the virus again or be able pass it on to others in their care...”The tests are then expected to be rolled out to other “key workers” and then to the wider workforce in Britain.Former health minister Stephen Hammond said: “This is the development many of us have thought would be the game changer and is an essential part of the way out of the crisis.“Whilst frontline health and care workers should get these tests first, the exciting news is that this could lead to ‘Covid passports’ to get London back to work and a more normal life as the tests are made more widely available.”Research will be carried out on people who have had coronavirus to quickly discover if any of them are getting re-infected, which would highlight the limits of any immunity.People who have only been mildly infected, or have had it asymptomatially, may have limited protection. Professor Sir John Bell, regius professor of medicine at Oxford University, said the Roche test was a “major step forward”.He added: “If you test positive with this test, you can say for certain you have had the infection so you will have had Covid-19.“But what I think you can’t absolutely for sure say is that you would be protected in the future because those antibodies are capable of neutralising the virus.”He believes it may be possible to develop the test further to show whether people would be protected.Loading....With America and the European Union having already given permission at the start of May for use of the Roche test, he added that the “approval mechanism does take longer than it should ideally do” in the UK.Ministers are urgently investigating the possibility of issuing “immunity certificates” to people who test positive for antibodies, providing scientists confirm that they are sufficiently resistant.While the move could be months away, it could allow staff to return to offices other places of work with confidence.Longer term, immunity certificates could solve the public transport capacity crisis by allowing the designation of more crowded carriages for people equipped with antibodies, or a green light to travel abroad without being quarantined.Loading....A senior government source told the Standard that the Government aims to buy “millions” of the Roche tests for medics care-givers and later roll them out to workers in the wider economy.But the source said scientific advice about immunity was not yet conclusive, adding: “It is too early to talk about certificates.”The Government came under fresh pressure over the crisis in care homes and testing this morning.Former health secretary Jeremy Hunt said test results were taking “much too long” and it was now “pretty clear” that the Government made a major error by stopping tests for tracking and tracing during March.“I think it’s very important not to finger point at the individuals … but actually, to ask why Sage, the Government’s scientific advisory committee, didn’t model the South Korean test, track and trace approach that we are now adopting right at the beginning” he told Radio 4’s Today programme.Listen to The Leader: Coronavirus Daily podcastTransport Secretary Grant Shapps issued a thank you to Londoners who “have put on their trainers to walk and jog to work, or dug out the bike and taken the decision to cycle”. He said they had freed up space on public transport for key workers and those with no option but to use buses and trains.Sign up for exclusive newsletters, comment on stories, enter competitions and attend events.ALREADY HAVE AN ACCOUNT? NEED AN ACCOUNT?

breakthrough antibody test is to be rushed out to health workers so they can safely work in hospitals and care homes, a health minister said today.Edward Argar also stressed that contracting appears to give people a level of immunity against the killer infection.The developments raised hopes of “Covid passports” being issued soon to millions of people to show they have had the infection and can return to work to boost Britain’s economy.The Government is planning to order millions of the tests from Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche after it was approved by Public Health England at its...

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The Evening Standard (also the London Evening Standard) is a local, Russian-owned free daily newspaper, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format in London. Since 2009 it has been owned by Russian businessman Alexander Lebedev. It is the dominant local/regional evening paper for London and the surrounding area, with coverage of national and international news and City of London finance. Its current editor is former UK Conservative Member of Parliament and Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne. In October 2009, the paper ended a 180-year history of paid circulation and became a free newspaper, doubling its circulation as part of a change in its business plan.

Breakthrough Roche antibody test to be rushed to NHS staff and carers

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