Abbott’s Antibody Tests: Global healthcare major Abbott on Monday said it has received CE mark for its laboratory-based serology blood tests for COVID-19 and these tests will be available in India by the end of May.

“Abbott has been singularly focused on bringing COVID-19 tests to market as quickly as possible to help address this pandemic. We are proud to be providing our antibody tests in the coming weeks as they will help understand who has had the virus, leading to greater confidence as we get to living life,” Abbott’s diagnostics business in India General Manager and Country Head Narendra Varde said.
The Company in its statement said, that- It will begin shipping the tests to India during May and will scale up to meet the demands subsequently.

The test will identify if a person has had the novel COVID-19, and will further understanding of the virus including how long antibodies stay in the body and if they provide immunity.

According to Abbott, it has demonstrated specificity and sensitivity of greater than 99% 14 days or more after symptoms started.

The test adds to Abbott’s existing COVID-19 tests in the UK that are already being used on its m2000 molecular laboratory system, which is already in use across NHS laboratories.

“We are collaborating with the NHS, Public Health bodies and private laboratories across the UK to enable this test to be used here.”

Antibody testing is an important step to tell if someone has been previously infected. It will provide more understanding of the virus including how long antibodies stay in the body and if they provide immunity.

This type of knowledge could help support the development of treatments and vaccines.

Meanwhile, India’s COVID-19 pandemic saw one of the sharpest rises in fresh cases on Sunday as the states reported 2,533 new cases in the last 24 hours. The country reported over 2,000 coronavirus cases for the second consecutive day. Delhi and Maharashtra registered the high number of cases on Sunday.

The coronavirus fatalities in India zoomed to 1,373 as 72 people succumbed to death in the last 24 hours. Most of the deaths were reported from Maharashtra and Gujarat on Sunday.