The UK should have coronavirus test kits available in days to establish who has contracted the disease or developed immunity.
Sharon Peacock, interim director of the National Infection Service, said millions of the antibody tests had been ordered and depending on their form, some might be able to be administered at home.
It could allow crucial healthcare workers to return to work if they had developed antibodies.
British Health Secretary Matt Hancock said on Tuesday that the government had bought 3.5 million of the tests.
There have been 1,427 confirmed cases and 422 deaths in the UK but new research by the University of Oxford has suggested as much as half of the country could already be infected.
The tests are designed to establish whether people have been infected with coronavirus, as opposed to antigen tests that show if someone has the virus as they are experiencing symptoms.
"These are brand new products. We have to be clear they work as they are claimed to do," Ms Peacock told a select committee in Parliament.
"Once they have been tested, and that will happen this week, once the bulk of tests arrive, they will be distributed into the community," she said.
The tests could be delivered by Amazon.
"Testing the test is a small matter, and I would anticipate that it would be done by the end of this week,” Ms Peacock said.
She said there were various different models and some might require people to go to a local chemist.
Ms Peacock said she thought any charge for the tests would be minimal and although she declined to say they would be available by next week, she confirmed that they would be ready in days rather than weeks or months.
The UK has brought in strict measures to battle the spread of the virus, including ordering people to stay at home unless absolutely necessary.
A top epidemiologist who advised the government said on Wednesday that if the actions of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s team were successful, demand for beds in intensive care could peak in the coming weeks.
"We're moderately confident, as I've said, but can't be completely sure," Neil Ferguson, a professor of mathematical biology at Imperial College London, told the same committee.
"If the current measures work as we would expect them to then we will see intensive care unit demand peak in approximately two and half to three weeks' time and then decline thereafter.
Prof Ferguson said that in the next six months, up to one in 10 Londoners could be infected.
"It will vary a lot by geographic area," he said. "It's possible that up to 5, at the outside 10 per cent of the London population will have some form of infection in that time."
He said recent data from South Korea, which has had a low mortality rate and regular testing, was encouraging.
"We are looking at that as a model," Prof Ferguson said. "The UK does not have the testing capability to replicate South Korea right now but it is likely in the next few weeks we will do."
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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