Who Should Get an Antibody Test for COVID-19?

In March 2020, the World Health Organisation (WHO) called for countries to test every case. In the UK, this was restricted to selected treatment areas and has since been expanded to cover wider areas of population. The importance of obtaining an antibody test is to assist in the determination of the local levels of previous infection and also the currently unknown determination of the longevity and level of these protecting antibodies.

According to the UK Government, all essential workers or persons living with essential workers should be tested.  Essential workers title includes all NHS and social care staff; essential public services; public safety and national security staff; transport workers, education and childcare workers; production and distribution of food; local government, frontline local authority staff, funeral service providers, utilities, communication and financial services staff. All those in areas where a tighter lockdown has been imposed when compared to the national standards.

Elsewhere, the recommendations include any person with symptoms of the virus, including asymptomatic people who have been in contact with the infection. It has been realised that some patients may have the coronavirus infection and test positive for this without showing any signs of illness, these people are termed asymptomatic and are often identified following a tracking process.

Other people who should get the antibody test are those who will be travelling. Many countries and airlines are requesting evidence of absence of COVID-19 infection before flight and entry into another country. Examples of travellers requiring this include, those travelling for humanitarian relief and specialist engineering teams and repatriation to home country.

Thank you for reading our blog ‘Who Should Get an Antibody Test for COVID-19?’. Nomad as a range of antibody tests that can be offered and certification that can be provided often at short notice for rapid deployment. For more information please visit our website.