A COVID-19 antibody test, said to be 99.8% accurate, could soon be available in Ireland.

The test has been developed by Swiss giant Roche Diagnostics and has already been approved for use in the US.

The company, which has a base in Dublin, said its Elecsys test has a specificity greater than 99.8% and sensitivity of 100% - meaning it gives no false negative results and only one in 500 false positives.

The antibody test indicates whether a patient has been exposed to the virus and recovered.

It is hoped that exposure to the virus leads to a level of immunity - and an effective antibody test is viewed as crucial in terms of easing lockdown restrictions.

A lab assistant holds a blood sample to be tested for COVID-19 antibodies in Texas, 28-04-2020. Image: David J. Phillip/AP/Press Association Images

The World Health Organisation has warned that there is not yet enough evidence to say whether recovered patients have immunity. There are encouraging signs coming from countries like South Korea; however, it is also unclear how long any protection may last.

The company said the tests can provide results in 18 minutes. It believes it can provide “high double-digit millions of tests” to countries that accept the EU’s CE mark as early as this month.

It said it can continue to increase capacity from there.

A medical technologist loads a sample for COVID-19 antibody testing in Texas, 28-04-2020. Image: David J. Phillip/AP/Press Association Images

Meanwhile, research on a new rapid test for the virus itself, being developed by Irish company Hibergene, Queens University Belfast and researchers in China and Italy, has been awarded nearly €1m in further funding.

It is hoped the new test will be capable of diagnosing confirmed cases of the virus within an hour.

I can be carried out on site – eliminating the need to send tests to a centralised laboratory, saving time and resources.

Hibergene CEO Seamus Gorman said: “We are delighted to lead an international consortium to quickly develop and bring to market a rapid, easy to use molecular diagnostic test for COVID 19 disease.”

“Rapid diagnosis and reporting of results is the key to containing the COVID 19 disease and this test can play an important role in its diagnosis and control.”

It can take weeks for COVID-19 tests to return in Ireland and the HSE has said it aims to reduce the waiting time to three days by May 18th.