Some manufacturers are selling products for the diagnosis of COVID-19 infection in community settings, such as pharmacies.
The current view by PHE is that use of these products is not advised, the organisation said:
– some of these products look for the virus while others look for the body’s immune response to the virus. Such tests are very rapid and can work on a range of specimens including serum, plasma or finger-prick whole blood
– there is little information on the accuracy of the tests, or on how a patient’s antibody response develops or changes during COVID-19 infection. It is not known whether either a positive or negative result is reliable
– currently there is no published evidence about the suitability of these tests for diagnosing COVID-19 infection in a community setting
