Hundreds of Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service (LFRS) staff will undergo coronavirus antibody tests from next week, officials have confirmed.
Chief Fire Officer for Lancashire, Justin Johnston, announced the news on Tuesday evening.
He tweeted: "Next week Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service will be undertaking staff testing for coronavirus antibodies.
"300 staff will undergo blood tests that will not only tell them if they’ve had the virus but also allow those blood samples to be used to validate finger-prick tests."
The tests, which allow people to see if they have contracted the virus, are being rolled out across public services in an attempt to provide frontline workers with confidence and help combat the virus.
Next week @LancashireFRS will be undertaking staff testing for Coronavirus Antibodies. 300 staff will undergo blood tests that will not only tell them if they’ve had the virus but also allow those blood samples to be used to validate finger-prick tests.Stepping forward together😊
— CFO Justin Johnston (@Lancs_FireDCFO) May 26, 2020
It follows reports earlier in May that an antibody test with a 100 per cent success rate had been developed by Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche.
Public Health England announced that the test had been assessed and approved, and Prime Minister Boris Johnson said in a statement last week that the tests could be a "game changer".
Health officials said that previously-available tests were found to be somewhat reliable and were giving some people false positive and false negative results.
The government reportedly spent £16 million on the unreliable methods, but will now invest in the rolling out of the tests to frontline public service staff.
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