You Can’t Always Trust Your Coronavirus Antibody Test Results

ProPublica explains why COVID-19 antibody tests can generate false positives:

“Antibody tests are meant to recognize a past infection. Many of these have hit the market in recent weeks and are being offered at local clinics. Officials have touted the tests as crucial for reopening the economy and developing public health strategies to contain the virus.

But there are still questions about how accurate they are. And even with a very good test, it’s possible to test positive for antibodies even when you don’t actually have them.”

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The Accuracy of Covid-19 Testing

COVID-19 tests are vitally needed to control the pandemic, but even accutate antibody tests can generate false positives.

More:

“‘Breakthrough’ COVID-19 Tests Are Currently Cheap, Fast—and Not Very Accurate,” Jim Daley, Scientific American

“Why even a super-accurate Covid-19 test can fail,” Umair Irfan, Vox

“Understanding COVID-19 False Positives,” Emily Oster, Slate

Related:

“The US has no idea how to manage all the testing data it’s collecting,” Neel V. Patel, MIT Technology Review

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Comments are welcome if they are on-topic, substantive, concise, and not boring or obscene. Comments may be edited for clarity and length.