Coronavirus: what we know about Boris Johnson's 'game changing' antibody test
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Alexandra Thompson
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Yahoo Style UK•March 21, 2020
A cleaner is pictured disinfecting a suburban commuter train at Leningradsky Railway Station in Moscow on 20 March. Russia has had 199 confirmed coronavirus cases since the outbreak was identified. (Getty Images)
Boris Johnson has spoken of plans to roll out “literally hundreds of thousands” of “antibody tests” in a bid to combat the coronavirus outbreak.
Early research suggests four out of five cases are mild, with a relatively small number of patients requiring hospital care.
Patients in the UK are only routinely being tested for the virus if they end up in hospital, leaving many wondering whether they may have unknowingly fought off the infection and have immunity.
To be on the safe side, the prime minister is urging everyone to avoid social contact, ditch non-essential travel and work from home – if they can – for the foreseeable future.
Many worry about the impact this is having on both the economy and the NHS, with staff showing the tell-tale fever and cough being told to self-isolate for seven days.
Johnson claims getting hold of a test the public can do at home could be a “total game changer”, but how would it work?
Latest coronavirus news, updates and advice
Live: Follow all the latest updates from the UK and around the world
Fact-checker: The number of Covid-19 cases in your local area
Explained: Symptoms, latest advice and how it compares to the flu
A passenger is pictured wearing a mask while using a travelator at the Madrid-Barajas Adolfo Suarez Airport on 20 March. Spain has had more than 18,000 confirmed cases. (Getty Images)
“[The government is] in negotiation to buy an antibody test”, Johnson said on Thursday.
He compared the simplicity of the device to an at-home pregnancy test, adding it will analyse a person’s blood rather than their urine.
Johnson claimed if the test works “as its proponent claims”, the government will “buy hundreds of thousands”.
“It has the potential to be a total game changer”, he said.
“Knowing you’ve had [the virus] means you’re likely to be less vulnerable, less likely to pass it on and can go back to work”.
The coronavirus is thought to have emerged at a seafood and live animal market in the Chinese city Wuhan at the end of last year.
It has since spread globally into more than 160 countries across every inhabited continent.
Since the outbreak was identified, more than 245,000 cases have been confirmed, of whom over 86,000 have “recovered”, according to John Hopkins University data.
\
Alexandra Thompson
,
Yahoo Style UK•March 21, 2020
A cleaner is pictured disinfecting a suburban commuter train at Leningradsky Railway Station in Moscow on 20 March. Russia has had 199 confirmed coronavirus cases since the outbreak was identified. (Getty Images)
Boris Johnson has spoken of plans to roll out “literally hundreds of thousands” of “antibody tests” in a bid to combat the coronavirus outbreak.
Early research suggests four out of five cases are mild, with a relatively small number of patients requiring hospital care.
Patients in the UK are only routinely being tested for the virus if they end up in hospital, leaving many wondering whether they may have unknowingly fought off the infection and have immunity.
To be on the safe side, the prime minister is urging everyone to avoid social contact, ditch non-essential travel and work from home – if they can – for the foreseeable future.
Many worry about the impact this is having on both the economy and the NHS, with staff showing the tell-tale fever and cough being told to self-isolate for seven days.
Johnson claims getting hold of a test the public can do at home could be a “total game changer”, but how would it work?
Latest coronavirus news, updates and advice
Live: Follow all the latest updates from the UK and around the world
Fact-checker: The number of Covid-19 cases in your local area
Explained: Symptoms, latest advice and how it compares to the flu
A passenger is pictured wearing a mask while using a travelator at the Madrid-Barajas Adolfo Suarez Airport on 20 March. Spain has had more than 18,000 confirmed cases. (Getty Images)
“[The government is] in negotiation to buy an antibody test”, Johnson said on Thursday.
He compared the simplicity of the device to an at-home pregnancy test, adding it will analyse a person’s blood rather than their urine.
Johnson claimed if the test works “as its proponent claims”, the government will “buy hundreds of thousands”.
“It has the potential to be a total game changer”, he said.
“Knowing you’ve had [the virus] means you’re likely to be less vulnerable, less likely to pass it on and can go back to work”.
The coronavirus is thought to have emerged at a seafood and live animal market in the Chinese city Wuhan at the end of last year.
It has since spread globally into more than 160 countries across every inhabited continent.
Since the outbreak was identified, more than 245,000 cases have been confirmed, of whom over 86,000 have “recovered”, according to John Hopkins University data.
