Antibody testing to start from next week
ANTIBODY testing for Covid-19 will start in Guernsey next week, but it is still not known whether the presence of antibodies means someone is immune to re-infection.
On day 42, with no new cases of Covid-19 in the Bailiwick, Director of Public Health Dr Nicola Brink explained how the island’s testing regime has ramped up significantly over the past few months.
There are very few people with symptoms left in the community so there are far more tests available to start surveillance testing earlier than was previously thought possible.
‘Through this [direct viral test], we have now tested almost 700 people and we have found absolutely no evidence of infection,’ she said.
‘Every group we’ve looked at, whether they are health and care workers, Aurigny cabin crew, pilots, care workers, [or those in] primary care, we’ve found no evidence of infection and that is really encouraging and has given us evidence to progress more quickly to Phase 5.’
Antibody testing will start next week with health and care workers who work on the front line.
Testing will also be offered to those who, in March or early April, had Covid-19 symptoms but were not tested for the virus because the island did not yet have the testing capabilities because samples had to be sent to the UK.
Dr Brink said this progression with testing and moving swiftly through the lockdown exit phases could not have been possible without the support of the community and the #GuernseyTogether message.
Touching on immunity passports, Dr Brink said the World Health Organization and Public Health England do not recommend this.
‘We simply don’t know whether the presence of antibodies means that someone is immune to the infection.
‘We do not recommend that we use antibodies as a form of guaranteeing immunity.
‘We cannot say that that person is not susceptible to a second infection – we think it’s unlikely, but we are not sure.’
On top of that, some of the tests do not perform as well as others.
In terms of vaccines, Dr Brink seemed optimistic about the progression in finding one sooner than had originally been hoped [Q1 or Q2 next year].
‘Within Guernsey we’ve got a vaccine group together, so are looking at what a vaccine would look like in the Bailiwick, how we’d administer it, what the logistics are, what equipment we’d need and what storage we’d need.’
When a vaccine becomes available, Public Health wants to be ready and prepared to launch into that straight away, not waste time working out the logistics of how to administer it.
