Exclusive: Porton Down scientists work on rapid mass Covid tests to unlock summer sport

Scientists at the chemical weapons testing laboratory at Porton Down are working on rapid Covid tests that can diagnose tens of thousands of people an hour to unlock the British summer of sport.

Porton Down scientists are verifying a number of different schemes for mass testing for thousands of spectators in a matter of minutes in order to allow for sports events in June.

The tests could see tens of thousands of fans checked an hour before going to watch events at stadia this summer, according to industry sources familiar with the plan.

One testing source told The Telegraph: "There are possibilities that involve being able to process tens of thousands of tests an hour.

"Technology has been adapted from agriculture and other areas where high volume processing is the norm and is being applied to this human application like never before."

Health ministers commissioned PHE Porton Down to establish a time-limited SARS-CoV-2 test development and evaluation programme last August.

Since then, a scientific team has been established to deliver this work in collaboration with the University of Oxford and Porton Down's external scientific advisers through a three-stage process.

By the end of the testing process, thousands of the tests are being checked by the scientists at Porton Down. The findings are then reported to officials and ministers who use "this information and any recommendations to inform potential purchasing decisions".

One senior Government source said: "There are a number of technologies that are coming through that are really very fast. [Porton Down] is looking at the efficacy and the accuracy. There are a number of them under testing at the moment. It is very very fast – volume and speed."

Last week Nadhim Zahawi, the vaccines minister, made it clear in an online forum with the Reaction website that mass rapid testing will be a large part of how the UK returns to normal after the pandemic.

Mr Zahawi said: "We think that rapid testing is one of the ways that we open the economy, whether it be large concerts or other parts of the economy. So testing certification needs to be easily available on your phone if you need to show you have had a test if you need to attend a sporting event or anything else."

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman declined to comment.

A source pointed to the Government's plan for exiting the lockdown, which said pilot testing for "enhanced testing approaches and other measures to run events with larger crowd sizes and reduced social distancing to evaluate the outcomes" starts in April.

The plan added: "The Government will bring the findings from across different sectors and different settings to determine a consistent approach to lifting restrictions on these events."