Gorgas institute team plans COVID-19 antibody tests

An immunovirology team from the Gorgas Institute for Health Studies is working on the validation of antibody tests that will be applied to Health and Law enforcement personnel in the coming days.

The infectologist and member of the Advisory Commission for the Coronavirus of the Ministry of Health (Minsa) , Javier Nieto said that although rapid serological are promising, it is important to validate their usefulness, since having been exposed to the virus is not synonymous with being immune.

He said that after validation in Gorgas, the tests will be applied first to people who were in the first line of work and care, and then to the rest of the population.

By y performing the test, the percentage of asymptomatic people who may have been exposed to the virus that causes COVID-19 will be determined.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization warned that until now scientific evidence has not shown that a person positive for the virus’s antibodies develops immunity to COVID-19.