Mayo Clinic in London offers comprehensive Covid-19 testing

London’s Mayo Clinic Healthcare has teamed up with Mayo Clinic Laboratories in the US to offer antibody testing for Covid-19.

The serology test can be used to identify whether someone has been infected with SARS-CoV-2 and will be offered in combination with a respiratory sample test known as a PCR test, typically collected through a nasal swab and used to find out if someone is actively infected with the virus.

The test samples will be collected at Mayo Clinic Healthcare, which was opened in Portland Place at the end of last year, and flown to Mayo Clinic Laboratories in Rochester, Minnesota, for processing. The test costs £350 and results are expected within 72 hours.

Mayo Clinic Laboratories began offering serologic testing in the US in April and said it was seeing ‘enormous demand’ for reliable Covid-19 testing.

By combining the serology test with the nasal swab, it believes it is offering the best evidence-based option currently available.

Kevin Fleming, medical director of Mayo Clinic Healthcare, said: ‘The serology test tells you if you have had it, and the nasal swab test tells you if you currently have it.’

It will initially make the tests available to employers trying to assess Covid-19 exposure among their workforce and to existing Mayo patients but is planning to roll it out to the wider community as fast as possible.