FALSE HOPE

None of the U.K.’s Millions of Coronavirus Antibody Tests Sent From China Work

The testing chief said the tests only work on people who had strong COVID-19 symptoms, not on those who were asymptomatic or had mild cases.

None of the millions of COVID-19 antigen tests the United Kingdom ordered from China are good enough for general use, The Times of London reports. The major setback was reportedly confirmed by British testing chief John Newton, who said the tests ordered from China only work on people who had been severely ill from the coronavirus infection, not on the thousands who had only mild symptoms or were totally asymptomatic. The U.K. had hoped the tests would provide a better understanding of the extent of the contagion among health workers. Now Newton says he will focus his attention on creating three mega labs for the testing of National Health Service staff. The hope was that the tests would be used on NHS workers to determine who was sick or had recovered from the virus so they could return to work, and to help formulate a plan to end the lockdown.