The British Government’s former chief scientific adviser has said that the U.K. is “very close” to having a COVID-19 test that will be able to identify who has already had the respiratory disease and are likely to be immune to it (although it does seem possible to suffer re-infection). If successful, this could be a big breakthrough, as it would allow some health-care workers to risk exposure to the virus and citizens to eventually resume normal economic activity.

.@UKRI_CEO Sir Mark Walport tells @Peston that the U.K. is “very close” to having a COVID-19 test that can be rolled out. #Peston pic.twitter.com/kbOBsUDH9J — Peston (@itvpeston) March 18, 2020