After Four Antibody Tests, I’m Still Not Sure I’ve Had Covid-19

Rapid kits produce contradictory results and little peace of mind when it comes to immunity from the virus

Bloomberg Businessweek
Bloomberg Businessweek

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COVID-19 Antibody Tests. Photo Illustration: 731. Test Kits: Courtesy Stephanie Baker

By Stephanie Baker

Central London was deserted when I arrived at the clinic for my first test for antibodies to the novel coronavirus. After more than a month stuck at home under lockdown, I’d anxiously donned a mask and ventured into the city’s financial district, where a doctor was offering a test.

Like many struggling through the pandemic, I suspected that I might have been infected with Covid-19 a while back and was eager to find out for sure. The doctor took a small lancet, pricked my finger and pipetted a drop of blood into a plastic cassette. As the weak control line began forming in the results window, I nervously waited to see if I’d had it.

It was the first of what turned into a series of maddening, discomfiting, nerve-wracking tests with conflicting results that left me even more anxious — and with more questions than at the start. Countless people such as me have been having “I think I might have had it” conversations around virtual watercoolers during the lockdown. Antibody testing has been trumpeted by U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson and other world leaders as a…

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