Coronavirus Home Test Kits Available At Amazon U.K. And Boots 'Within Days'

KEY POINTS

Finger-prick coronavirus home test kits will be sold at Amazon U.K. and Boots
Priority will be given to health workers and essential business employees
The U.K. government will roll out more test kits for the public

In a matter of days, a coronavirus home test kit will be for sale, which could detect positive COVID-19 cases in 15 minutes. However, these test kits will only be sold at Boots outlets around the United Kingdom and the Amazon U.K. online store.

According to Professor Sharon Peacock of Public Health England (PHE), the coronavirus home test kits are waiting to be cleared by their science and technology committee in Oxford. Once done, these will be distributed to specific sectors of the community in a matter of days.

The U.K. government purchased some 3.5 million kits, and a bulk of this will be distributed to health workers first so that they will know if they can come to work. The PHE will also prioritize selling these kits to supermarket workers and other essential business employees for the same reasons.

covid-19-4908692_1280 — Soon, a 15-minute coronavirus home test kit will be distributed to specific sectors in the U.K. geralt/Pixabay

The government is planning to purchase more of this test kit to roll out for the rest of the community. Downing Street said during the press briefing that there would be a "hierarchy" for the availability of these test kits.

The price has not yet been determined, but Peacock said it would likely be sold for a minimal fee or availed for free for health and essential employees. Boots, however, advised the public not to go to their stores for now since they still do not have kits.

We are keen to work with the Government to explore opportunities to support COVID-19 testing and to support the NHS in any way we can. However we do not have any type of COVID-19 tests in our stores. Customers should not make a trip to a Boots store or pharmacy for this purpose
— Boots (@BootsUK) March 25, 2020

The test is done with a single finger prick to detect if a person has special antibodies. Apparently, a person who has had COVID-19 develops the antibodies that try to fight the infection. Someone who has been exposed to the coronavirus can build an immunity to it and may likely not catch it again.

"If you have antibodies you know you have had the infection. This is not just for health workers, this is for the general population," Peacock said. “Over time we would expect a proportion of the population to test positive and that will allow them to get back to work."

🚨🚨 Professor Sharon Peacock, Director of the National Infection Service, Public Health England, says antibody test could be ready for general public to be tested in Boots or at home within days "not weeks or months". Simple finger prick test....
— Richard Vaughan (@RichardVaughan1) March 25, 2020