Have you tested positive for coronavirus? Aylesbury Vale residents could help in race to find accurate antibody tests and help to end social distancing

Offering their support to the Government and NHS to help get the nation tested for coronavirus, YorkTest Laboratories says that it has made a breakthrough in its development of a COVID-19 IgG antibody test and is seeking more blood samples to expedite the validation of this test.

But they need more blood samples from members of the public who know they have contracted the virus, and have received a test.

Dr Gill Hart, scientific director at YorkTest Laboratories, said: “We already have a laboratory enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for measuring immunoglobulin G (IgG) reactions to foods. We know that the methods and formulations that we use for this are very robust and scalable, so we already have a great foundation and the expertise in our laboratory for developing the COVID-19 IgG antibody test.

“Our core business provision of home-to-laboratory testing is well established with all the equipment, certifications (CE, IVD, ISO), and procedures are already in place to be able to deliver a COVID-19 antibody test solution once development is completed.

“Following an appeal to our customer base last week, we have now reached a major milestone as to the feasibility of our COVID-19 IgG antibody test, as we received a number of tested positive for COVID-19 blood samples. Using these samples has enabled us to successfully assess the initial feasibility of our own COVID-19 IgG antibody test.”

But to progress quickly the company is making an urgent appeal to the general public who have been affected by coronavirus to respond with their help.

Dr Gill added: “It’s important that our test is accurate and can distinguish between those individuals that definitely have had the virus, and those that haven’t. We need more samples confirmed positive and negative using the swab test for completion of the development.

“We also need to demonstrate that the test is reproducible and is able to detect the low levels of antibodies that are present at the start of the infection”.

YorkTest already has an established home-to-laboratory finger-prick blood collection kit, enabling people to safely and responsibly take a tiny blood sample from the comfort of their own home.

To get in touch, and most importantly to provide a positive tested COVID-19 blood sample to help in the fight against coronavirus, please contact YorkTest at [email protected] or call 01904 410 410. For more information, visit https://www.yorktest.com/coronavirus/