Positive post : Covid antibody test a 'positive development'

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Originally Posted by Lord Dargavel

Yes Abbott’s antibody test has gone through the same testing as the Roche antibody test, along with other vendors. Both companies claim 100% sensitivity and greater than 99% specificity (which is arguably more important).

Despite what has been suggested in the media (Which has mislead people including posters on here) no one vendor has signed an agreement to supply the 4 nations laboratories. The public health bodies are all assessing the various tests from the various vendors. No official decisions have yet been taken on who will supply the labs but orders will be split across vendors including Roche and Abbott.

You should understand that it makes no sense that a hospital whose laboratories are supplied by one vendor to purchase a test from another vendor as they do not have the equipment to run the test on. This is just one example of why there will not be an all encompassing deal with one vendor.

There are also different types of test. The PCR test which actively looks for the presence of the virus is different to the antibody test which looks for the presence of antibodies that were formed by the body to combat the virus. There are also different antibody tests. IgG and IgM. Then there are the rapid diagnostics tests.

The vendors are offering different combinations of these different types of tests.

Lisvaneblue confidently stated “The Roche product is the one that has been approved and that's the one we will use whether purchased UK wide or individually by each of the 4 countries.” He/she could not have been more wrong. This is factually incorrect and a good example of why you should not necessarily believe what you read in the media

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In reply, and defence, I did send a correction to say that the Abbott product had also recently been approved. As someone who spent most of my working life running the commercial arm of a pharmaceutical company, I was very much involved with arranging procurement contracts with the NHS.
I have no doubt that the NHS will purchase both products together with the associated services needed to run the antibody tests.

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Originally Posted by goats

Did you have any symptoms at all? I trust it wasn’t free?

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It was $129. I fell ill on February 3rd and was completely knocked out. It was like something I'd never experienced before. Eventually, I dragged myself to a doctor and was tested for influenza which came back negative. After that, I thought that I had had pneumonia, but then I thought maybe it was Covid-19. If I test positive for antibodies, it should mean that I (and possibly my family) will at least be safe from infection for the immediate future. We'll see.

Test was negative. So maybe I did have pneumonia.

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Originally Posted by NYCBlue

Test was negative. So maybe I did have pneumonia.

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That’s a shame I guess....what’s open in NYC at the moment? Shops? Restaurants?

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Originally Posted by trampie09

Some countries are very slow testing and processing results, it's a very poor show.

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Up until yesterday I spent two weeks waiting for my Coronavirus test results and decided to give the testing people a ring. I was informed that many of the tests carried out by the Army don't seemed to have been processed promptly.
I was advised that the result of my test would be of little value now: if I didn't have the virus t at the time of the test (very unlikely, in my opinion) it could be that I could have developed it since - and if I had it at the time of the test then I probably don't have it now. Pretty pointless exercise, really.

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Originally Posted by goats

That’s a shame I guess....what’s open in NYC at the moment? Shops? Restaurants?

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Besides drug stores, liquor stores, and a couple of other things, all shops are closed. Some restaurants and bars are open for take-out only. The city relaxed the "open container" laws so that it is permissible to drink alcohol in public places. I noticed yesterday that a lot of bars and restaurants that closed down have been tagged and the fronts are completely covered in graffiti. It's very quiet everywhere, except for parks. The west side, which has several parks on the old piers as well as walking and cycling paths along the Hudson is as busy as it ever was.