Published 10:33 IST, July 19th 2020
UK plans to distribute millions of anti-body test kits for free
The UK plans to distribute coronavirus anti-body tests which can tell a person withing 20 mins if they have been exposed to the coronavirus.
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The United Kingdom plans to distribute coronavirus anti-body tests which can tell a person withing 20 minutes if they have been exposed to the coronavirus. According to reports, a UK government-backed version of the test recently passed its first major trial with an accuracy rate of 98.6 per cent. The trial was reportedly held in June and involved 300 people.
UK to provide anti-body kits for free
As per reports, the British government plans to distribute millions of the finger-prick tests to people absolutely free. The antibody test has been developed by UK Rapid Test Consortium (UK-RTC) which is a partnership between Oxford University and leading UK diagnostics firms. The tests on the anti-body test were conducted by scientists at Ulster University.
According to reports, in anticipation of final approval, thousands of anti-body kits have already been manufactured. Currently, the only other test approved by the UK is the one that requires a blood sample to be sent to a testing lab, it can take days before a person gets their test results. As per the government's plans, the tests will be available online and thus, will not require people to travel to the supermarkets.
The United Kingdom has reported almost 300,000 thousand positive coronavirus cases according to the John Hopkins Coronavirus resource centre, the death toll in the UK currently stands at 45,358. The deadly coronavirus pandemic that began in Wuhan, in the Hubei province of China late last year has infected 14,231,248 worldwide with the US the current epicentre of the virus with almost 4 million reported cases. The global death toll stands at 601,213.
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10:33 IST, July 19th 2020