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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Trump: Less Testing = Less COVID-19

President Trump claims that Coronavirus infections are up due to increased testing, and cutting down on testing will decrease infection numbers. Mr. Trump followed up on his absurd claim by stopping funding of federally-backed testing in Texas, Illinois, New Jersey, Colorado and Pennsylvania. Health officals say Americans are still under-tested, and urge immediate increases.

More:

“Trump again blames testing for high coronavirus numbers during Arizona rally,” Don Jacobson and Daniel Uria, UPI

“Fauci, top health officials warn of covid-19 surge, contradict Trump on testing,”
John Wagner, Felicia Sonmez, Yasmeen Abutaleb, Lena H. Sun and Laurie McGinley Washington Post

“Fauci, other health advisers at odds with President Trump on whether to slow testing,”
Anne Flaherty and Mariam Khan, ABC News

“Dr. Birx Contradicts Trump, Privately Tells Govs to Increase COVID Testing,” Erin Banco and Sam Stein, Daily Beast

Updates:

“No, more testing doesn’t explain the rise of covid-19 cases in the U.S.,” Jennifer B. Nuzzo, Washington Post

“Trump plan to cut federal support for Covid-19 testing sites sparks alarm,” Adam Gabbatt, The Guardian

“Coronavirus: Federal government will end funding for 13 community-based Covid-19 test sites, most in Texas,” Dan Mangan, CNBC

Latest Updates:

“Trump administration restores federal funding for Texas testing sites,” David Lim, Politico

“HHS Forced To Keep Texas COVID Testing Sites Open Following Public Outcry,” Josh Kovensky, Talking Points Memo

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How South Korea Slowed Coronavirus

South Korea slowed the spread of COVID-19 through testing and tracing. A Vox video by Christina Thornell, Danush Parvaneh, Ranjani Chakraborty and Mac Schneider.

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