This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-51943612

The article has changed 88 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 4 Version 5
Coronavirus testing: What is the UK government's plan? Coronavirus: Can I get tested to see if I have Covid-19?
(about 16 hours later)
The UK government wants to significantly increase coronavirus tests to cover NHS workers. At the moment, only patients in hospital are being routinely tested. The UK government wants to increase the number of people tested for coronavirus.
The government's chief medical officer, Prof Chris Whitty, said the UK was trying to buy more testing kits - but warned there was a global bottleneck on purchasing the kits. Currently, about 6,000 people are tested daily. But by the end of March it wants to test 10,000 people a day, rising to 25,000 by the end of April.
The government's priority is to increase numbers of antigen tests - the ones that tell you if you currently have the virus. Can I get tested for coronavirus?
Kits that will allow people to find out at home if they have already had coronavirus are currently being tested, according to Prof Whitty. But they haven't yet been shown to work. Currently, most people can't.
At the moment, only patients in hospital with flu-like symptoms are being routinely tested for the virus.
However, there have been calls to do more tests, especially for NHS staff and other key workers.
Is a new test being developed?
The government's priority is to increase the number of people being tested to see if they currently have the disease.
The test being used is known as a PCR test. A swab from your throat or nose has to be taken and tested in the lab.
But scientists are also looking at tests which can check whether someone has had the disease in the past. These look for markers of immunity called antibodies in the blood.
They are faster than PCR tests, using a drop of blood on a device a bit like a pregnancy test.
This could help work out how widespread the disease has been and whether people are safe to go back to work
The government said it has bought three-and-a-half million of these tests and plans to make them available "very soon", if they can be proved to work.
However, it will not be available immediately, according to the government's chief medical officer, Prof Chris Whitty.
"I do not think - and I want to be clear - that this is something we'll suddenly be ordering on the internet next week," he said.
Can I buy a private test?
You can, but Public Health England advises against it, as it says there is not yet enough information about them.
"It is not known whether either a positive or negative result is reliable," reads a statement on its website.
A private healthcare clinic in London defended its decision to charge £375 for a test.
Reports suggest other firms have also increased the price of their testing kits.
What is the UK doing?What is the UK doing?
In total, 90,436 people in the UK had been tested for coronavirus as of 24 March - currently between 5,000 and 6,000 a day. The government plans to increase this to 25,000 tests a day within four weeks. In total, 90,436 people in the UK had been tested for coronavirus as of 24 March.
Currently, if you have symptoms and you're not sure if you have the virus, you may well not be able to find out - even if you're working for the NHS. There are two main reasons for testing people - to diagnose them individually, and to try to understand the spread of the virus. This is called surveillance testing, but is not being done by the UK at present.
There are two main reasons for testing people - to diagnose them individually, and to try to understand how far the virus has spread in the wider population. This second reason is referred to as "surveillance testing".
The UK is not currently doing any mass surveillance testing or actively tracing people who have come into contact with confirmed cases.
Not testing more widely means that many people might be self-isolating for no good reason, including NHS workers. Healthcare staff have also raised concerns that they could be spreading the infection unknowingly.Not testing more widely means that many people might be self-isolating for no good reason, including NHS workers. Healthcare staff have also raised concerns that they could be spreading the infection unknowingly.
What do I need to know about the coronavirus?What do I need to know about the coronavirus?
New tests
At the moment, when people are tested to see whether they have the virus, a swab is taken. This is then sent off to a lab to be processed where a machine will look for the virus's genetic material - which takes time.
Public Health England is working to scale these tests up to over 10,000 a day by the end of March and 25,000 a day by the end of April, by buying in more machines with higher capacities.
This should also allow it to test health workers as well as the sickest patients.
Scientists are also currently evaluating tests which can check for the presence of antibodies (produced by the body to fight off infection) in the blood. This indicates whether someone has had the disease in the past.
This could help work out how widespread the disease has been and whether people are safe to go back to work.
The government said it has bought 3.5 million of these tests and plans to make them available "very soon". But first they have to be shown to work.
If approved, people should be able to order test kits from Amazon, according to Prof Sharon Peacock at Public Health England.
"People will be able to order a test or go to Boots to have their finger-prick test done", she said, and this could be available in the "near future".
Should the UK be testing more people?Should the UK be testing more people?
The director general of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he had a "simple message" for all countries: "Test, test, test."The director general of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he had a "simple message" for all countries: "Test, test, test."
He added: "We cannot stop this pandemic if we do not know who is infected."He added: "We cannot stop this pandemic if we do not know who is infected."
So why is the UK not testing more people? The UK does not have the resources of equipment or staff to do mass testing at the moment, although the government is trying to increase its capacity.
Ultimately, this mainly comes down to resources. Every country is limited by how much money, equipment and staff it has - at the moment the UK doesn't have the capacity to do mass testing, so healthcare systems have to prioritise. It has done more testing than many other countries, although not more than the most rigorous testers like South Korea.
It's also partly to do with how widespread the virus is.
"Testing and contact tracing is critical - particularly in the early stages," according to Prof Mark Woolhouse, an infectious diseases expert at the University of Edinburgh.
However, he says once you are beyond the "containment phase", this may become less useful.
If the illness becomes so widespread that the cases known to health services are just the tip of the iceberg, and there are many more milder cases among people who don't present, then "contact-tracing of the small fraction of cases that are visible won't do very much," he said.
But Prof Jonathan Ball, a molecular virologist at the University of Nottingham, believes the current testing regime "doesn't go nearly far enough".
"To have any impact on the spread of this virus there has to be more widespread testing out in the community," he says.
What are other countries doing?
The UK has done more testing than many other countries, although not more than the most rigorous testers like South Korea.
The UK passed its 2,500th case on 18 March and had tested 828 people per million of its population. At the same point in their outbreaks, Italy had conducted 386 tests per million citizens, while South Korea had done more than 2,000 tests per million.The UK passed its 2,500th case on 18 March and had tested 828 people per million of its population. At the same point in their outbreaks, Italy had conducted 386 tests per million citizens, while South Korea had done more than 2,000 tests per million.