NHS Test and Trace reached more than one million people over the New Year week, advising them to self-isolate due to either a positive test result or close contact with an infected person. These are record levels for the service as they endeavour to get in contact with positive cases and trace those who were in recent close contact with them to isolate the virus and prevent further transmission within the community. During the first week of 2021, NHS Test and Trace reaching 92.7% of contacts, an...

Member Press Release – New England Biolabs Multiplex Assay KitThis new research use only kit enables high throughput multiplex detection of SARS-CoV-2 nucleic acid, supports increased sample input and reduces background amplification from possible contaminating genomic DNA. IPSWICH, MA (January 12, 2021) — New England Biolabs® (NEB®) today announced the launch of its Luna® SARS-CoV-2 RT-qPCR Multiplex Assay Kit for real-time detection of SARS-CoV-2 nuc...

An Imperial College-led study has found that the adoption of new technologies into the health and care environments has benefited both patients and staff. 2,200 workers were involved in the global study across six countries that found improvements in the way employees work and are able to treat their patients. Access to healthcare has also been boosted through the use of video technologies for patients.Digital and data tools such as online portals and video consultations have been used more and ...

As key worker status has been applied to essential members of BIVDA member company staff again this lockdown, please see below a set of 3 letters from BIVDA for you to supply if helpful together with any correspondence of your own to your key worker employees. Schooling: This letter will support their notification to their child's school that they need to be kept at school. Some schools are querying critical workers not being the same as key workers, this is not the case ...

The trade section of the Office for Life Sciences has published a comprehensive Q&A document, including answers or links to guidance for every question on exports and Brexit regulation noted down from the webinars undertaken with the sector over the last few months.Topics covered include Medical Device Regulation, Chemicals, REACH and tariffs. You can find the briefing note attached below. 

The Government has announced a wider roll-out of rapid COVID-19 across England. There will be a community testing regime initiated this week, covering all 317 local authorities. Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced that rapid lateral flow tests will be used, providing a positive or negative result within 30 minutes. He said that he hoped such a move towards rapid COVID-19 testing will break transmission rates within communities and lessen the skyrocketing number of cases in England. Governmen...

BIVDA Statement on UK Rare Disease Framework BIVDA Chief Executive Doris-Ann Williams has welcomed the publication of the UK Rare Diseases Framework. The Framework lists the priorities and underlying strategic themes that detail how the UK will address the challenges faced by those living with rare diseases, with four high-level priorities for action over the next five years: Helping patients get a final diagnosis faster; increasing awareness of rare diseases among healthcare professio...

DnaNudge has been announced as a finalist for the XPRIZE Rapid COVID-19 Testing Competition. The company is one of the top 20 performing businesses globally, and the award has been directed to the CovidNudge test. The test provides results in 90 minutes and, importantly, does not require any lab processing, pipettes or manual sample pre-processing in its operation. A study published in The Lancet Microbe journal found that the test’s average sensitivity was 94.4% compared against standard ...

BIVDA represents the industry sector who manufacture and distribute diagnostic tests to the NHS. These rely on a high level of automation and so industry has service engineers and technical specialists working in NHS pathology laboratories alongside NHS staff to ensure that the equipment is maintained and allowing diagnostic test results to be issued without delay.  Doris-Ann Williams, BIVDA’s Chief Executive said “This equipment will have been subjected to infected samples and ...

£149m has been allocated by Government to support increased rapid coronavirus testing in care home settings. Due to the severe vulnerability of care home residents and the need for avoiding staff-patient virus transmission, care homes have been identified as a key priority in the Government’s COVID-19 testing strategy. Staff will now be asked to undergo two rapid virus tests per week, this is in addition to the present once-a-week PCR test they complete to detect potential COVID-19 i...