Tony Blair today urged the Government to set up a mass testing programme which would see the bulk of the UK population checked for coronavirus as he suggested that is the only way to prevent a second outbreak.
The former prime minister said the Government needs to make use of all available laboratory capacity and to support the roll out of ‘rapid, on-the-spot’ antigen and antibody checks.
Antigen tests shows if someone currently has coronavirus while antibody tests show if someone has previously had the disease.
Rapid antibody tests are now available while similar antigen tests which do not require processing in a lab are also in development.
Mr Blair said those tests must form a key part of the Government’s strategy moving forward as he called for mass testing to replace the current approach of targeted testing of people with symptoms.
Mr Blair said without the ability to take a snap shot of infection rates in the whole population it will be difficult to get out of lockdown quickly and safely while it will be ‘virtually impossible’ to make NHS Test and Trace work without an accompanying mass testing programme.
The ability to test millions of people would provide the UK with an ‘effective containment strategy’, Mr Blair claimed.
He also insisted Britain’s testing efforts must be ‘tougher’ than other comparable countries because the scale of its outbreak has been that much worse than some of its neighbours.
Tony Blair today urged ministers to introduce a mass testing programme to check the bulk of the UK population for coronavirus
Mr Blair told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that the mass testing programme should be a mix of antigen tests which show if someone currently has coronavirus and antibody tests which show if someone has previously had the disease.
He said: ‘The plan is to instead of relying on targeted testing and testing only that is lab-based that we do mass testing using tests that are rapid, on-the-spot tests that are available now for antibodies, that are becoming available for antigen tests – that is, in other words, the test for whether you have the disease.
‘My view is that this is probably the single most important decision the Government have got to take around containment at the moment and I think they have got to go back to their original strategy published back in April which was to have mass testing.
‘They have departed from that and are now effectively only doing targeted testing and I think that this is going to make it much more difficult to get out of lockdown fast and I think it is going to be, I would say, virtually impossible to make track and trace work effectively unless you are combining it with mass testing.’
Mr Blair insisted fast tests are now available to be purchased by the Government and that ‘there are many British companies that are making them’.
He also claimed the fast tests have been shown to be reliable.
‘And as these antigen, rapid, on-the-spot tests come into being, and we suggest exactly how this is and what the Government should be doing in order to make sure it is backing the efforts to achieve these tests, including from British companies but also companies overseas, as you do that you will find you have got the ability to test the population at large and you are not simply testing those who have symptoms,’ he said.
Mr Blair said rapid antibody tests were ‘absolutely for sure’ already available for mass purchasing and ‘you have got five or six British companies making these tests and selling them abroad or even selling them to people in this country’.
He added: ‘Now, antigen tests, they are being developed… a whole lot of those tests, there are about 15 that are commercially marketable now but obviously you have to validate those.
‘The United States in early May validated the first antigen rapid, on the spot test.’
The Government launched its NHS Test and Trace programme last week which sees anyone with symptoms told to self-isolate and get checked.
If they test positive their close contacts are then also told to self-isolate even if they do not have any symptoms.
However, the roll out of the programme has been beset with problems with staff complaining they do not have any work to do while a critical NHSX contact tracing app has been delayed.
It emerged today that the people running the programme believe it may not be at full speed until September or October.
Mr Blair said targeted testing and contact tracing will not be enough to prevent a second outbreak.
He also expressed concerns that the UK is easing lockdown at a time when it is in a ‘worse position’ than other nations when they took similar steps.
‘It is not just a question of how we ease the lockdown today,’ he said.
‘My anxiety is what happens if there is a resurgence of the disease in October, November.
‘At that point you have got to have in place the ability to do mass testing which means rapid tests, combined with your lab-based tests.
‘I really want to underline this. I think right now in government this is the single most important preparation they can make to give us an effective containment strategy because the problem with the UK I am afraid is that our situation is worse than comparable countries.
‘Yesterday, we had I think it is almost 1,900 confirmed cases. That is more than France, Italy, Spain and Germany put together.
‘Our death rate is still significantly above others and yet we are easing.
‘We are easing the lockdown in circumstances where we are in a worse position than comparable countries and that is why our position on testing has got to be a lot tougher and better than other countries.’
A report by the former PM’s think tank, the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, said the Government must ‘shift at speed’ to building the mass testing regime.
The report states: ‘The prevalence of the virus means that mass testing is required to continue to screen a high proportion of the population, identifying cases to keep the disease in check and to help large numbers of people make informed decisions about how they should behave based on their disease status.
‘The current approach places a high dependence on a track and trace model that is neither fully ready, nor workable in the absence of mass testing. The two must work together for the population to safely engage with the easing of lockdown measures.’