Coronavirus: Warning over COVID-19 antibody tests given to NHS and care workers

A group of academics voice concerns about the tests' performance and say they risk "inefficient use of scarce resources".

A group of senior medical experts has raised concerns about coronavirus antibody tests being carried out on NHS and care staff.

The blood tests - described by Prime Minister Boris Johnson as potentially "game-changing" - can tell whether a person has had COVID-19 in the past.

The government purchased 10 million test kits from pharmaceutical giant Abbott and Roche last month, with the first phase of the testing programme assessing NHS and care workers.

But in a letter published by the British Medical Journal, a group of academics and clinicians have voiced concerns about the performance of the tests and warned they risk "inefficient use of scarce resources".

They said that a positive or negative test result would not alter the management of a patient and added that a positive result "does not indicate immunity".

"The concept of 'immune passports', allowing healthcare workers or others to work, has not been established," they wrote.

"Those with a positive antibody test should still consider themselves at risk and follow infection control policies…. There is, therefore, no benefit to healthcare organisations or to others in knowing the status of employees at present."