NHS staff in Manchester will take part in crucial research into coronavirus testing.
More than 100 health workers, many who staff the frontline, have signed up to a study looking at the antibodies linked to COVID-19.
The population study is being conducted at dedicated research sites at Manchester Royal Infirmary and Wythenshawe Hospital, and will focus on the development and changes in antibodies linked to COVID-19, and how they can be tested.
The findings will inform Public Health England's understanding of the virus, including how quickly it is spreading.
Researchers say a finding reliable antibody test will be crucial in determining who has already had the virus.
Professor Neil Hanley, group director of Research and Innovation at MFT, said: "There is a critical need for a reliable antibody test, that can be scaled up, to determine if people have previously had COVID-19.
"The hope is to detect antibodies, part of the immune system that usually protects you from another dose of the same infection.
"The challenge is specificity; the virus that causes COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, is related to the common cold. Making sure any test picks up the right antibodies and only those antibodies, is crucial.”
Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (MFT) is the only NHS site to be part of the ESCAPE-COVID observational study.
Staff taking part will provide blood samples, once a month for six months.
The samples from MFT healthcare workers will firstly be used by Public Health to determine which is the most accurate coronavirus antibody test.
The best test can then be rolled out across the NHS. The study will also follow antibody levels in MFT healthcare workers over time to understand if these antibodies prevent further coronavirus infection.
Prof. Hanley added: "Although it is early days, the hope is you can say to someone: you’ve had it, you’re fit, and you have immunity.
"Obviously, that could carry a massive impact for the NHS workforce and whether the wider public can return to their everyday lives, including caring for isolated friends and relatives.”
Michelle Hepburn, clinical research practitioner, and Margretha Amegadzie, senior clinical research nurse, have both taken part in the study.
Michelle said: “Our roles involve running clinical trials on a daily basis; carrying out patient clinical visits including vital signs and taking bloods, administering the trial-specific medication, and organisation of participant clinical visits, but we never thought we’d be part of a study – especially one so critical to everyone around the world.
"It was a privilege to be asked to support PHE and NHS colleagues with the ESCAPE study.”
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