100% accurate antibody test that shows who has had corona virus and may now be immune for THREE years

A new ‘game-changing’ and 100 per cent accurate corona virus antibody test that can tell whether someone has had the infection has been approved for public use in the UK, public health bosses declared last night.

The test, made by Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche, will identity almost everyone who has had COVID-19, with experts hopeful these people could be immune from catching it again for up to three years.

Ministers are now in talks with Roche to buy millions of the kits, which US regulators approved eleven days ago. Insiders say it is unlikely that the lab-based tests will be available to purchase privately, at least initially.

Antibody tests – which can require only a pin-prick of blood – are designed to tell if someone has contracted the virus in the past. They do not accurately tell if someone is currently infected.

Scientists hope that those whose body developed antibodies after recovering from the virus could develop immunity for two or three years, making them safe to return to work. But the World Health Organisation has repeatedly cast doubt on whether people can become immune at all.

Public Health England (PHE) announced experts had carried out an evaluation of the antibody test at its top secret Porton Down facility, and found its results to be ‘highly specific’, identifying every sample from someone who had previously tested positive for corona virus.

The findings have been hailed as a ‘very positive development’ in combating the corona virus outbreak.

They come after weeks of disappointment regarding Britain’s planned mass roll-out of antibody tests. Despite promising home tests, the UK has not yet approved any because the government insists it can’t find a DIY finger-prick kit accurate enough – despite only evaluating a handful of tests.

Public Health England have announced that a new corona virus antibody test by Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche has been found to be 100 per cent accurate. The FDA in America has already issued emergency use approval

‘This is a very positive development because such a highly specific antibody test is a very reliable marker of past infection. This in turn may indicate some immunity to future infection although the extent to which the presence of anti-bodies indicates immunity remains unclear.’

The test is designed to help determine if a patient has been exposed to the virus that causes Covid-19 and whether they have developed antibodies against it.

Antibody testing, as opposed to antigen tests which look for active viruses, will be key to reopening Britain. A 100 per cent accurate test would enable ministers to reconsider the idea of ‘immunity passports’ so people who have fought off the illness can return to work.

The passports have been mooted by countries across the world as part of the path out of lockdown, but plans were shelved pending a test accurate enough to rely on.

The news comes as Boris Johnson’s government considers the steps Britain must take to balance fighting the virus through lockdowns with economic damage that causes – which was yesterday said to be sparking a ‘recession to end all recessions’.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has already issued an emergency use approval for the antibody test, called Elecsys Anti-SARS-CoV-2.

Roche said in a statement late Wednesday it is in talks with National Health Service and the UK government about a phased roll-out of antibody test kits as soon as possible.

Back to work? An accurate antibody test has been described as a ‘game changer’ in the battle to restart Britain’s locked-down economy (pictured: Leytonstone underground station in north east London yesterday)

copied from: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8317393/New-coronavirus-antibody-test-100-accuracy-PHE-finds.html