Rolling out antibody testing to see whether people have had coronavirus could result in discrimination at work, Government scientists have warned. In a briefing document prepared by the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) in April, experts said managers may prioritise those who have tested positive when offering jobs. This could lead to widespread “gaming” of the system in which people desperate for work deliberately get infected with Covid-19. Alternatively, a black market for counterfeit positive test results could emerge. Since the early days of the crisis, ministers have touted widespread access to antibody tests as a potentially powerful tool to enable the easing of restrictions. Assuming that the presence of antibodies indicates at least some immunity from future infection, a positive test result could enable a form of “immunity passporting”, experts have suggested. It might also allow parts of the country to leave lockdown earlier than others, a strategy that the Government’s chief scientific adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance, acknowledged on Tuesday was being examined by experts.
