The latest news says that the UK are attempting to make 100,000 per day.

1.5 million work in NHS so with many assumptions thrown in 2 weeks approximately for NHS staff.

How do you apply for test kits in the private sector? Who makes them ? Any contacts etc...

Which kit are you after?

The confirmation antigen (like a drug wipe identifying those exhibiting previous exposure)

The diagnostic (the one like an MOT with mouth swab and lab analysis - on the day of test your result was...).

The former are still having their accuracy evaluated, the latter newer test methodologies (e.g. adapting an existing HIV analytical) are being developed due to shortages in current necessary reagents.

There is great deal of BS being spread about testing. I can’t see the NHS delivering 100 000 tests a day by the end of the month. The theoretical capacity   of the NHS is currently about 12 000. The best they managed this week is about 10 000. The main test being carried out now is the RT-PCR test. This is not a trivial test. It involves taking a swab from the back of the throat and then transporting it to a lab. During this phase you need to hope that the swab has virus on it and the virus does not degrade. Then you need to extract the RNA from the swab again a tricky process. Then you apply the RT-PCR using one of the primer sets that have been identified as specific for SARS-CoV-2. Then you analyse the DNA produced by the amplification process and on the basis of that you can tell if a person have the virus. As I said not a trivial process. In fact until recently this was the sort of thing that was only done in research labs not routine testing labs. The South Koreans have manage to scale this up basically by throwing money at it, so that they can automate it, and apply very stringent quality checks. I have not explained any of the jargon, to emphasise that this not just simple test where you add a reagent to the sample and get a simple YES NO answer.

There is as a consequence no such thing as a “test kit”. You need access to reagents, a lab and trained staff to make this happen. You cannot buy this off the shelf.

People are developing other tests based around detecting the virus by it antigens. Such a test could be   adapted into a kit (lateral flow device) which is like a home pregnancy kit. But the kit would need to manufacture to a high standard and as afar as I know none has yet been approved.

Once the kits do become available they will almost certainly be directed to “key workers” ie the NHS and you will not be able to buy them privately   

The 100,000 tests announced by Matt Hancock include the antigen test (potentially the easiest and quickest) to see if you have had it, which they hope will be sorted by the end of April.

They keep saying this is the key, but I’m not convinced. Testing to be of any use would surly have to be constantly done as you could be clear in the morning and infected in the afternoon. The only really useful test seems to be the antigen one which shows who has had it and potentially immune (they expect but don’t know for sure). Unless I understand this incorrectly, the test is only good for that moment in time just like a car MOT.

Chris

If anyone is considering purchasing and using any of the 'kits' currently on offer perhaps it might be wise to ensure that they are CE marked before they do, if only for their own protection to ensure that what they are doing has some validity.