U.S. Floats Doubling Up Antibody Tests to Improve Accuracy

In order to more accurately assess the spread of Covid-19, the U.S. should use multiple antibody tests at once, the White House recommended in a document issued Monday detailing the national strategy to expand testing efforts.

Tests that measure antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 rather than the virus itself will be crucial to understanding how widespread the outbreak really is -- and ultimately for rolling back restrictions on people and businesses. But such tests have been plagued by accuracy concerns as many have been rushed to market. In particular, antibody tests can be prone to false-positives, unwittingly identifying antibodies to other closely related viruses.