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Coronavirus: Can I get tested to see if I have Covid-19? Coronavirus: Is the UK testing enough people?
(2 days later)
Frontline NHS workers are being tested to see if they have coronavirus. Testing is seen as key to tackling coronavirus and the UK hopes to rapidly increase the number of people tested in the coming weeks.
The roll-out of testing in England follows that in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. But how does the UK's approach compare with that of other countries and who can get tested?
It is hoped that the number of people tested will increase rapidly in the coming weeks, but who can be tested at the moment? How many tests is the UK doing?
Which NHS workers are being tested? The UK is currently testing about 7,000 people per day. It hopes to carry out 25,000 tests a day by mid-April.
Critical care doctors and nurses are being tested first, followed by staff in emergency departments, paramedics and GPs. According to the latest figures, 127,737 people in the UK have been tested for coronavirus so far.
Healthcare workers in England are being sent kits to their homes, with samples sent to one of three new labs. It's part of a collaboration involving Amazon, the Royal Mail and Boots, as well as research labs and universities. The majority of these tests have been on seriously ill hospital patients with symptoms of the virus.
Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove said the tests - which will check whether people currently have the disease - would give health and social care workers "security in the knowledge that they are safe to return to work if their test is negative". Testing is now being rolled out to NHS staff workers. These antigen tests show whether someone is currently infected and risks spreading it to others.
The measures follow criticism from NHS staff over a lack of testing. Critical care doctors and nurses are being tested first, followed by staff in emergency departments, paramedics and GPs. Tests for social care workers will follow.
Who else gets tested for coronavirus? The government says this will give those who test negative "security in the knowledge that they are safe to return to work".
Before the decision was made to test NHS staff, only seriously ill patients in hospital with flu-like symptoms were being routinely tested for the virus. How does this compare with the rest of the world?
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 mid-April. The UK is lagging behind comparable countries like Italy, Germany and South Korea when it comes to how many tests are being carried out per million people.
Is a new test being developed? In total, 1,881 people per million UK citizens have been tested, as of 29 March.
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. In comparison, Italy, whose outbreak is a fortnight ahead of the UK, had tested 7,513 people per million on 29 March and had tested 2,283 people per million at a similar point in its outbreak.
They use a drop of blood on a device a bit like a pregnancy test. Germany, which is at a similar stage to the UK, had already conducted 5,773 tests per million inhabitants by 26 March. And the US, which has rapidly scaled up its testing, reached 2,541 tests per million on 28 March.
This could help work out how widespread the disease has been and whether people are safe to go back to work The director general of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said: "We cannot stop this pandemic if we do not know who is infected."
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. Can I get a test for coronavirus?
However, it will not be available immediately, according to the government's chief medical officer, Prof Chris Whitty. At present, coronavirus testing is not being offered to the general public.
"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. The UK does not have the resources in terms of equipment to do mass testing at the moment, although the government is trying to increase its capacity.
The government has bought three-and-a-half million antibody tests which could show whether you recently had coronavirus, even if you had no symptoms.
These could help work out how widespread the disease has been and whether people who may have been self-isolating - including vital NHS staff - are safe to go back to work.
On Monday, infectious disease expert Prof Neil Ferguson said that it was hoped the tests would start rolling out "within days". However, tests are being carried out to ensure they work before they are made available.
Antibody tests use a drop of blood on a device a bit like a pregnancy test.
What do I need to know about the coronavirus?
Can I buy a private test?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.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."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.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.Reports suggest other firms have also increased the price of their testing kits.
What is the UK doing?
In total, 104,866 people in the UK had been tested for coronavirus as of 26 March.
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.
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?
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."
He added: "We cannot stop this pandemic if we do not know who is infected."
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.
It 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.