There are currently no requirements to offer testing to your employees, however doing so can help make your employees and customers feel safer and measure how effective your social distancing measures are in preventing the transmission of the disease. Workplaces have been shown to be clusters for transmission, so regularly testing your employees for active infections is important to help keep transmission rates down.

We recommend conducting a survey of your workforce using antibody testing, enabling you to measure immunity levels by seeing how many of your employees have already contracted the disease and understand the effectiveness of your social distancing measures. We also recommend conducting regular antigen testing to monitor current infections within your workforce and prevent employees who may be asymptomatic (4/5 of cases) from spreading the disease further.

The antigen tests are >99% specific and >91% sensitive. They have been CE-IVD marked.

The antibody test we use is stated to be >91% sensitive and >99% specific by the manufacturer. PHE found the likelihood of false positives with the antibody test to be 6.1% however. False negatives may also occur if the test is taken too soon after a possible COVID-19 infection. The antibodies that the test detects start to develop from around 4 days after the initial infection (IgM) so if a test is taken before this point, a false negative might occur. Testing For All cannot be held responsible for false negative tests.

The test is a lateral flow immunoassay test and operates in a similar way to a pregnancy test. Embedded into the test strip are antibodies that bind to a COVID-19 specific biomarker, Immunoglobulin G (IgG), and another infection biomarker, Immunoglobulin M (IgM). When a sample (blood, serum or plasma) is added to one end of the test, it flows along the test strip and interacts with these antibodies. If the patient has contracted COVID-19, the biomarkers in their blood will bind to the antibodies on the test strip, leaving a visible test line. If the patient doesn’t have COVID-19, no biomarkers should be present in their blood and no test line will be visible. There are separate test lines for IgG and IgM and only one needs to be visible for a positive result.

Immunoglobulins are antibodies themselves and are part of our immune system. When we get an infection, such as COVID-19, immunoglobulins are produced, which attach to the virus and activate the rest of the immune system to attack and clear the virus. IgM is the first immunoglobulin to be produced. The presence of IgM is an indicator of early infection ( as early as 4 days after infection). The presence of IgG is an indicator of later stage infection (usually 7 days or longer after infection).

Yes, we recommend that anyone testing positive for IgM antibodies self isolate, as WHO guidance reports individuals can be infectious up to 7 days after first developing symptoms.

The blood draw only takes a few minutes and is performed by a healthcare professional using a small lancet to draw blood from your finger, and time to results is 10 minutes

Your employees should continue working as long as they are able to observe adequate social distancing measures

The tests will be carried out on your premises by healthcare professionals

Our network of partners is set up to deliver quality testing at pace. We have partnered with a number of accredited private laboratories, including Alpha Laboratories and our tests will be manufactured by Abbott, a world leader in diagnostics and medical devices. Our logistical partner is Royal Mail and our legal partner is top international law firm, Cooley. For more information on our partners, please visit our partners page.

We can carry out as many tests as you require

Testing For All is a not-for-profit organisation, and charges for the test at the cost we are charged by our suppliers, plus a small administration fee to cover the costs of operating the platform. We are committed to keeping the price of antibody testing as low as possible, and the current price is likely to fall over time as our scale of testing increases.