AN ANTIBODY surveillance study suggests 17 per cent of people in London and around 5 per cent of the rest of the nation have coronavirus antibodies, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said today.

He told the daily Downing Street briefing that the government has signed contracts for 10 million antibody tests with pharma and medical firms Roche and Abbott, with the roll-out starting with health and care staff, patients and residents from next week.

Mr Hancock added: “The UK government has arranged supplies of these tests on behalf of the devolved administrations and each devolved nation is deciding how to use its test allocation and how testing will be prioritised and managed locally.