Government adviser: mass antibody test 'at least a month' away

With pressure growing on the government to forge an exit plan out of the current lockdown, antibody tests have been regularly cited by ministers and officials as a means to return to some form of normality. Boris Johnson says a home testing kit which would identify whether an individual has suffered from the disease – and therefore has some form of immunity – would be ‘a game changer’. The government has ordered millions of such tests on the condition that they work.

However, news today from an academic advising the government on antibody testing makes clear that those hoping for a quick resolution are to be left disappointed. Professor Sir John Bell, of Oxford University, advises the government on life sciences. Writing on the university website, he says there’s a problem: none of the tests the government has ordered meet the required standards: