Coronavirus: UK outbreak slowing, antibody test could be ready in days

Coronavirus: UK outbreak slowing, antibody test could be ready in days
March 30, 2020, 8:37 am

People wear masks in a park at Kensington Palace Gardens, as the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues, London, Britain, March 24, 2020. (Reuters)

The coronavirus epidemic in the United Kingdom is showing signs of slowing and antibody tests could be ready in days, Neil Ferguson, a professor of mathematical biology at Imperial College London, said on Monday. Coronavirus: UK

“We think the epidemic is just about slowing in the UK right now,” Ferguson told BBC radio.

He said a third or even 40 percent of people do not get any symptoms. He said perhaps 2 percent to 3 percent of the United Kingdom's population had been infected.

But Ferguson cautioned that the data was not good enough to make firm extrapolations.

He said antibody tests were in the final stage of validation right now and could be hopefully ready to use in “days rather than weeks.”

However, Britain cannot confirm when the antibody test will arrive for use, junior health minister Helen Whately told BBC radio. Coronavirus: UK

“I am not going to confirm when that’s going to arrive,” she said. levant

source: Reuters levant

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