HALF of results from the 17.5m ‘game-changer’ coronavirus home testing kits ordered by the government could be unreliable, scientists checking them reveal
- Boris Johnson previously said new tests for antibodies could be ‘game-changers’
- But experts have warned that they may fail to detect up to half of Covid-19 cases
- The latest figures show 47,806 confirmed cases and 4,934 deaths across UK
The 17.5 million home testing kits ordered by the government to help stop the spread of coronavirus could be unreliable, according to scientists.
Boris Johnson had previously said the new tests could be a ‘game changer’ but UK experts have now warned that they may fail to detect up to half of Covid-19 cases.
It comes after the latest figures show that there have been 47,806 confirmed cases and 4,934 deaths across the UK.
Boris Johnson had previously said the new tests could be ‘game-changers’ but UK experts have now warned that the antibody tests may fail to detect up to half of Covid-19 cases
It had been suggested that the antibody kits, which take just 20 minutes to use, were going to be made available ‘within days’ through retailers such as Boots and Amazon.
They were intended to identify contagion hotspots as well as to determine those who were immune from coronavirus having already contracted it.
It was hoped that they could speed up the screening of frontline workers such as NHS staff, teachers, police officers who would then be able to return to work.
But now none of the tests set to go on the market have proved to be sufficiently reliable despite many claiming an accuracy rate of more than 90 per cent.
It comes after Health Secretary Matt Hancock himself said on Sunday that the tests were not yet ‘good enough’ with ministers playing down their universal effectiveness
Speaking to the Guardian, Dr David Ho, a leading infectious disease specialist at Columbia University, said in reality the sensitivity of the tests was likely to detect just 50 to 60 per cent of those with more mild symptoms.
It comes after Health Secretary Matt Hancock himself said on Sunday that the kits were not yet ‘good enough’ with ministers playing down their universal effectiveness.
Mr Hancock told BBC One’s The Andrew Marr Show that plans to roll out the tests across the country were no longer immediate.
He said: ‘We’re getting the test results through every day, I was looking at some last night.
‘But we still don’t have any that are good enough.’
The Department of Health and Social Care has been contacted for comment.