Big news for today! The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention finally started to conduct blood testing to identify if a person has caught coronavirus. Read more below!

The CDC has begun blood testing for immunity against coronavirus!

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has finally begun the blood test process to if a person contracted coronavirus; even without showing any signs. Notably, the new method (called serological tests, or serosurveys) are quite different from the standard nose swabs we are familiar with. By analyzing blood, researchers now should be able to identify if that person had developed specific antibodies in their blood; an in turned indicated that they were infected and recovered.

If a person’s test proved that they did develop those protections against reinfection; they would be safe to re-enter society. This result will help when millions of people are being ordered to stay home amid the spreading of coronavirus. On the other hand, the tests are going to provide us with more data. Scientists can track the extent of the virus retroactively. Joe Bresee, deputy incident manager for the CDC’s pandemic response, told reporters. 

“We think the serum studies will be very important to understand what the true amount of infection is out in the community. We’re just starting to do testing, and we’ll report out on these very quickly”. The first phase for testing on people living in hot spots started recently after the FDA allowed an emergency authorization for testing kits last week. The test can deliver the result within 15 minutes. Furthermore, other manufacturers have been working to deploy their kits in the coming months. Finally, the second phase should begin in the summer on the national level. 

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So far, the UK has obtained 3.5 million of these tests. Meanwhile, both Italy and Germany are also considering using them to present their citizens with a specific “certifications”; which indicates that they can return to the world.