THE government’s idea of issuing immunity certificates to people who have recovered from coronavirus is dangerous and unnecessary, an immunology expert has warned.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock told a press conference on Thursday that the government was considering handing out the documents to allow people – mainly key workers – to “get back, as much as possible, to normal life.”

But Eleanor Riley, professor of immunology and infectious disease at the University of Edinburgh, said today  that such certificates would give the recipients a false sense of security.

“It’s not something that we’ve ever done before,” said Professor Riley.

“When we vaccinate people, particularly for certain diseases where they’re going to travel overseas, we give people a certificate saying they have been vaccinated.

“But that certificate doesn’t say they are immune and there’s a difference. We don’t know yet whether somebody who has had this virus is immune.”

Mr Hancock undermined his department’s own proposal today, returning to work just a week after he and Prime Minister Boris Johnson had tested positive for Covid-19.

He described his illness as a “pretty unpleasant experience.”

Mr Hancock said that he was “highly likely” to be immune or have a “very high level of immunity,” but admitted that it was “not certain.”

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, he said: “Like everybody else who has been through it, I am social distancing.”

A Department of Health spokesperson said it could not yet provide further information on the certificate proposal, promising an update when “the technology develops and becomes clearer.”

No antibody test – which can detect whether people have previously had the infection – has yet been approved for use in this country, but they are being used elsewhere. A British version is expected soon.

Mr Hancock also gave a further pledge to increase antigen testing, which can reveal whether a patient is currently infected.

“Money is no object here. What matters is getting the country out of this situation as quickly as possible,” he said.

There are around 35,000 front-line NHS staff off work with suspected coronavirus, he said, adding that the testing figures for health staff “should” rise to thousands a day in the next few weeks.

On Thursday, he vowed that England would hit 100,000 tests per day by the end of the month.