Health

When will coronavirus home test kits be available and can I buy them at Boots and Amazon?


ANTIBODY testing is being billed as a ‘game changer’ by the Government, who are facing heavy criticism for the UK testing rate.

Health and Social Secretary Matt Hancock addressed the issue at yesterday’s briefing after the government ordered 3.5 million tests. So when will you be able to get one?

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 The government is ramping up testing
The government is ramping up testingCredit: Alamy

When will I be able to get an antibody home test?

The current plan is to have them out on general sale by May, in four weeks, however Hancock did say that there would be “bumps in the road”, so a lot of this is speculation.

Hancock promised that all NHS staff will be able to have a test by the end of the month, with the first batch of tests being released mid-April.

NHS staff will start being tested this weekend.

The test will assess whether you have already had the virus and therefore gained a level of natural immunity – essentially marking you as relatively immune.

This does not make you invincible to it, nor does it mean that you cannot transfer the virus to those around you.

You may still get coronavirus again, but you will have a better chance against it.

The current Covid-19 test can only tell whether a patient is currently suffering from the virus, not if they have had it before and recovered.

 A finger-prick coronavirus test developed by developed by SureScreen Diagnostics which reveals whether you've had Covid-19 using antibodies
A finger-prick coronavirus test developed by developed by SureScreen Diagnostics which reveals whether you’ve had Covid-19 using antibodies

Will I be able to buy them on Boots and Amazon?

Not for at least a month.

The Government will get Boots and Amazon to distribute the tests to NHS staff and key workers first, so that they can operate with more confidence.

It will also get staff who are currently self-isolating with suspected symptoms back to work should they show immunity.

In this case it will be the antibody test, which is a finger prick test.

Following this, it will be put out for mass testing so we can identify coronavirus hot spots and bring the situation under control like they did in South Korea.

How can I get tested if I think I have symptoms?

You can’t unless you go to hospital with multiple serious symptoms.

The best thing to do if you think you have symptoms is to sit tight at home for at least a week and call 111 for advice.

If you are experiencing chest pains or shortness of breath then call 999.

Hospitals will only test the most severe cases due to the serious shortage of tests, which is at the physicians discretion.

 Scientists have produced a day-by-day breakdown of the typical Covid-19 symptoms
Scientists have produced a day-by-day breakdown of the typical Covid-19 symptoms

Why will it take so long for the tests to come out during a time of national crisis?

The aim is to have testing that is as accurate as possible, or else they will be a waste of time and money.

Mass testing is a huge weapon in the fight against the virus, but it needs to be affordable, simple, efficient, quick and accurate so we can all do it.

It has been implemented successfully in other countries such as Germany, which is testing over 100,000 people a day, and South Korea who smashed the virus with mass testing that allowed them to identify hot spots and bring it under control.

Hancock revealed that several of the tests the Government had been offered up to use so far were not accurate – with up to three out of four positive cases being missed.

This means that although the antibody test exists and looks promising, we need to be sure that it works as efficiently as possible, then production needs to be scaled up and tests need to be distributed to those most in need, who also need to be identified.

All of this takes time.

NHS staff will be prioritised, but then the rest of us can hopefully start buying them and registering as immune.

 Matt Hancock said he was delighted to be back at work after getting coronavirus - as he announced plans to test 100k people a day

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Matt Hancock said he was delighted to be back at work after getting coronavirus – as he announced plans to test 100k people a dayCredit: crown copyright

What did Hancock promise in terms of testing?

Hancock announced his five point plan to get to 100,000 tests a day by the end of April – and 250,000 after that.

The five points are:

  1. A vow to carry out 25,000 swab tests a day in NHS hospitals and PHE labs to test patients for Covid-19, by the end of April – up from 10k a day now.
  2. Creation of new swab testing capacity with help of commercial partners including Amazon, Boots and universities in new labs and testing sites for NHS staff and their families.
  3. ‘Game-changing’ antibody tests to tell if people have had coronavirus, and are immune to it. Finger-prick blood test takes as little as 20 minutes, and Government is working with nine companies to test whether they work. But could take up to 28 days to show best results.
  4. Virus surveillance, using the antibody test to understand the rate of infection and how the virus is spreading across the UK. Key to helping us exit the crisis.
  5. Build the British diagnostic industry “at scale” – with the pharmaceutical industry, including major drugs firms Astra Zeneca and GSK.





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