Coronavirus: Nottinghamshire Police to pilot Covid-19 home testing kits

Staff and officers at Nottinghamshire Police are piloting a new coronavirus home testing kit to help reduce the number of workers self-isolating.

The test will be made available to staff and members of their household who are displaying Covid-19 symptoms.

So far 320 staff, including officers, and PCSOs, have been tested, and 20 tests have come back positive,

Currently households with someone who is displaying coronavirus symptoms have to self-isolate for 14 days.

Chief Constable Craig Guildford said the test had "enabled [the force] to be able to keep as many people at work as possible".

The test is available to staff and anyone in their household exhibiting symptoms, including children over the age of five.

The government has said people who live on their own should self-isolate for at least seven days if they develop Covid-19 symptoms - such as a high temperature or a persistent dry cough.

People who live with more than one person should self-isolate for at least 14 days, if a member of the house develops coronavirus symptoms.

But it is hoped that the home testing trial will identify households that have coronavirus-like symptoms, but do not have Covid-19.

The test, called a PCR test, takes a sample from an individual through a swab which is then tested in a lab.

It can take up to 72 hours for the results to come through, and is not an antibody test.

An antibody test can tell someone if they have had the virus, and that the body has fought off the virus, but no test has been deemed good enough by the British government.

It is not yet known whether a person becomes immune from coronavirus after catching it.

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