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Coronavirus: What tests are available? Coronavirus: What tests are available?
(17 days later)
The government has bought thousands of rapid Covid-19 test kits in an attempt to control the virus ahead of winter. Getting tested - and then tracing people's contacts - is considered vital to stop coronavirus from spreading and taking hold in the population again.
The two new types of test give results within 90 minutes and will be used in hospitals, care homes and other settings. The government now plans to bring in mass coronavirus testing by the end of the year, even among people with no symptoms, according to the Health Secretary Matt Hancock.
Individuals with symptoms should continue to apply for coronavirus tests in the usual way, and can expect results back in one or two days. At the moment, generally only individuals with symptoms are told to apply for coronavirus tests, with results expected in one or two days.
Getting tested - and then tracing people's contacts - is considered vital to enable health experts to stop a local outbreak from spreading. But officials have become increasingly concerned about asymptomatic transmission - where people who don't know they have the virus spread it on to others.
Mr Hancock said the "ramping up" of testing would be helped by new technology, including rapid Covid-19 test kits which provide results in 90 minutes.
The Office for National Statistics is also expanding its monitoring programme where a random sample of people in private households are regularly swabbed to give a sense of how much infection there is in the wider population.
What are the tests?What are the tests?
The main test to diagnose someone with a current case of coronavirus involves a nose and throat swab which has to be sent off to be processed at a lab.The main test to diagnose someone with a current case of coronavirus involves a nose and throat swab which has to be sent off to be processed at a lab.
About three-quarters of people receive their results back within 24 hours, although postal kits and tests done at pop-up sites can take longer.About three-quarters of people receive their results back within 24 hours, although postal kits and tests done at pop-up sites can take longer.
But quicker results are needed in some situations, like when someone is admitted into hospital.But quicker results are needed in some situations, like when someone is admitted into hospital.
Rapid testing can ensure Covid and non-Covid patients are kept apart, and could find pre-symptomatic cases in care homes before they spread.
Two new tests promising to deliver results in an hour-and-a-half have been bought in their thousands by the UK government.Two new tests promising to deliver results in an hour-and-a-half have been bought in their thousands by the UK government.
Both still involve nasal swabs, but they can be processed using portable machines rather than going to a lab. These tests are currently planned to be used in settings like hospitals and care homes.
These tests won't show if you have had Covid-19 in the past. That is done by antibody tests, which use blood samples. Both still involve nasal swabs, but they can be processed using portable machines rather than needing to be sent to a lab.
These tests won't show if you have had Covid-19 in the past. That requires antibody tests, which use blood samples.
Can I get tested?Can I get tested?
The lab-based tests are now available to all adults and most children in the UK with a fever, a new continuous cough or a loss of smell or taste. The lab-based tests are now available to anyone in the UK with a fever, a new continuous cough or a loss of smell or taste.
In England and Wales you can apply for a swab test for yourself, or for anyone in your household, if you or they have symptoms
In Northern Ireland and Scotland, anyone over the age of five with symptoms can get tested.
You can travel to a drive-through testing site, visit a mobile testing unit or get a home testing kit delivered.You can travel to a drive-through testing site, visit a mobile testing unit or get a home testing kit delivered.
The UK also has capacity for about 80,000 antibody tests a day, but these are only offered to health and care staff. Antibody tests are are only offered to health and care staff, in schools, or used to test random samples of people to estimate the level of exposure across the country.
They are also used to test random samples of people to estimate the level of exposure across the country.
Why is testing important?Why is testing important?
Testing is essential if the UK's contact-tracing systems are to work effectively to help stop the virus's spread and avoid nationwide lockdowns.Testing is essential if the UK's contact-tracing systems are to work effectively to help stop the virus's spread and avoid nationwide lockdowns.
And in theory it can help people, including NHS workers, know whether they are safe to go to work. In theory it can help people, including NHS workers, know whether they are safe to go to work.
It's also useful to monitor the country's level of infection, which can inform NHS and government decisions. And it's also useful to monitor the country's level of infection, which can inform NHS and government decisions.
Can people who don't have symptoms be tested?Can people who don't have symptoms be tested?
Staff and residents in care homes should now be receiving regular coronavirus tests whether or not they have symptoms.Staff and residents in care homes should now be receiving regular coronavirus tests whether or not they have symptoms.
Some hospital staff are routinely tested, but there is no national guidance stating they must be. Some hospital staff are routinely tested, but there is no national guidance stating that they must be.
People living in areas where there is a current outbreak can also be tested, even without symptoms.People living in areas where there is a current outbreak can also be tested, even without symptoms.
For the general public, though, testing has been focused on people with symptoms.
But, with growing concerns around asymptomatic transmission, the government has said it wants to move towards mass testing where it becomes the "norm" for people to be tested regularly for coronavirus regardless of symptoms.
How reliable are the tests?How reliable are the tests?
When it comes to the most common type of diagnostic test, scientists at the University of Bristol believe 20% of positive cases could falsely appear as negative, wrongly telling someone they are not infected.When it comes to the most common type of diagnostic test, scientists at the University of Bristol believe 20% of positive cases could falsely appear as negative, wrongly telling someone they are not infected.
This can be because the swab sample wasn't good enough, the stage of infection someone's at when tested, or problems in the lab. This can be because the swab sample wasn't good enough, there were problems in the lab, or the result of the stage of infection the patient was at when tested.
Prof Andrew Beggs, at the University of Birmingham, says the rapid test produced by Oxford Nanopore is as accurate as the lab-based tests. But the results are yet to be published. Prof Andrew Beggs at the University of Birmingham, who independently assessed the rapid test produced by Oxford Nanopore, says it is as accurate as the lab-based tests. But the results are yet to be published.
Creator of the other rapid test, Prof Chris Toumazou of DNANudge, told the BBC it picked up 98% of positive coronavirus cases. But it's unclear whether this has been independently checked. Creator of the other rapid test, Prof Chris Toumazou of DNANudge, told the BBC it picked up 98% of positive coronavirus cases.
The Department of Health and Social Care said a "full evaluation" had been completed, but did not disclose who had carried out the assessment and whether it was independent.
How many tests are being carried out?How many tests are being carried out?
Somewhere in the region of 200,000 tests are being provided each day, but about half of those actually get processed daily. About 150,000 tests are being processed each day, but that includes antibody tests and those used for the purposes of estimating prevalence in the population rather than diagnosing people individually.
The figure also includes kits posted out to homes - some of which may never be returned - as well as tests carried out as part of a surveillance study by the Office for National Statistics, which aren't used to diagnose people individually. The government has been challenged over its testing capacity and the data it has presented and has now changed the way it sets out testing data.
The government has been challenged over its testing capacity and the data it has presented. and has now changed the way it sets out testing data. Until recently, the figure also includes kits posted out to homes - some of which may never be returned.
It was also double counting home tests when they were posted out and when they were processed in the lab.
On 12 August it removed 1.3m tests from its total number of tests "made available" because of this double counting.
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What do I need to know about the coronavirus?What do I need to know about the coronavirus?
Have you been tested? Or are you waiting for a test?Have you been tested? Or are you waiting for a test?
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