A deal has been agreed to supply antibody tests on the NHS, with health and care workers first in line to get them.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock will set out further details today about the deal after successful negotiations between the Government and pharmaceutical firm Roche, Downing Street said.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman told reporters: ‘The tests will be free for people who need them, as you would expect. NHS and care workers will be prioritised for the tests.’

Boris Johnson previously said antibody testing – which analyses people’s blood – will be a ‘game-changer’ in the fight against coronavirus as it may reveal how many people have had Covid-19 and may now have a degree of immunity.

On Monday, Mr Hancock told the Commons: ‘I think the whole country celebrated when there was the announcement last week that antibody testing that fits the bill and does the job had been approved by our Porton Down labs.’

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Public Health England (PHE) said last week scientific experts at its Porton Down facility had carried out an independent evaluation of a new antibody blood test developed by Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche.

Professor John Newton, national co-ordinator of the UK coronavirus testing programme, said although it was still unclear to what extent the presence of antibodies indicated immunity to Covid-19, it was a ‘very positive development’.

He added: ‘Scientific experts at PHE Porton Down carried out an independent evaluation of the new Roche Sars-CoV-2 serology assay in record time, concluding that it is a highly specific assay with specificity of 100%.

‘This is a very positive development because such a highly specific antibody test is a very reliable marker of past infection.

‘This, in turn, may indicate some immunity to future infection, although the extent to which the presence of antibodies indicates immunity remains unclear.’

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