He said: “We do not have sufficient testing and this is a global problem because basically every country is wanting this new test, for a disease that wasn’t actually being tested for anywhere three months ago.
“So everybody wants this, so there is a global shortage and that’s a bottleneck for us.”
If such tests were available, key workers such as NHS staff would be able to return to work if they have developed antibodies for the virus.
Data on the spread of the virus would also be more accurate if the number of tests could be stepped up, as the scale of the COVID-19 outbreak in the UK is currently unclear.