Would it make sense from the public safety point of view to allow the persons already having the antibodies to move more freely than the persons not having the antibodies? Or it is more of an ethical question than a medical one?
2 Answers
Projects for broad-based antibody blood tests are currently springing up like mushrooms. But the first test series available will be needed for the staff of health care.
of course there are other interests for antibody tests: virological, epidemiological and as your question implies economical.
Antibody blood tests should provide information about the spread of the corona virus so that the measures taken by the authorities can be adapted. A nationwide initiative is now putting pressure.
For example, if a selected group of people were tested for Sars-CoV-2 antibodies every two weeks, the course of the epidemic would be clearly visible.
The interest, especially in business circles, is huge. Everyone urgently wanted to know where they were in the pandemic, who was at best already immune and could therefore probably move around and work safely again.
Such data could inform practical issues such as whether and how to reopen schools that have been closed. Relatively few cases have been diagnosed among children, but it isn’t clear whether that’s because they don’t get infected or because their infections are generally so mild that they go unnoticed. Testing children for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies should resolve that.
Authorities are still afraid of a roll back of the wave when people start moving freely again. It must have a great acceptance and also be respected by those who should still stay at home.
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In my country those who move outside have to prepare a declaration regarding the purpose and urgency of their movement. It could be replaced maybe by just a test result showing positive antibodies. Or cinema with online reservations and one needs to provide the test result on entry. Even if a few become infectious again they will hardly transmit the virus around. Indeed it may be a problem with the public acceptance and in some countries with fake test results :)– yoneruCommented Apr 3, 2020 at 15:06
I would think that this is a reasonable possibility. We assume that they are largely immune but there is a possibility that this is not the case in 100% of recovered patients.
But some Wuhan residents who had tested positive earlier and then recovered from the disease are testing positive for the virus a second time. Based on data from several quarantine facilities in the city, which house patients for further observation after their discharge from hospitals, about 5%-10% of patients pronounced "recovered" have tested positive again.
answered Apr 3, 2020 at 7:01
