George Eustice, Member of Parliament for Camborne, Redruth and Hayle has today welcomed the news of a Government initiative based around home testing that ill track the progress of the infection across England. 

The programme, commissioned by the Department of Health and Social Care, is being led by a world-class team of scientists, clinicians and researchers at Imperial College London, alongside colleagues at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and Ipsos MORI. It will help improve understanding of how many people are currently infected with the virus, and potentially how many have been infected and recovered since the outbreak began.

Accurate testing for the virus on a wide scale will provide authorities with a clearer picture of the current spread of the disease and the number of people who have previously caught it. It will help identify individuals who may have some immunity to the virus, and to plan services for those who do not.

George commented, "The Government is doing everything it can to beat this virus, but in order to do so we must continue to learn more about the Coronavirus and how it operates. I would like to thank all those working hard across the scientific community and all other sectors as we work to beat this deadly virus.

Health Minister Lord Bethell said, "Understanding more about the current spread of coronavirus and the prevalence of antibodies is a vital part of our ongoing response to this pandemic. This ambitious new testing programme will help us track the rate of the infection now. And, crucially, it will help identify an antibody test that is accurate and easy to use, and which can give us an indication of how many people have already had the infection. This information will inform the future action we take to manage the spread of the virus, including the development of new tests and treatments."

Further information can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/major-home-testing-programme-for-cor…