Quest Diagnostics Selling Direct-to-Consumer Coronavirus Antibody Test

Quest Diagnostics is now selling direct-to-consumer tests for coronavirus antibodies that may allow people to check to see if they’ve been exposed to the virus, CBS News reports.

"Quest is making it easy for people to access quality testing for antibodies to the virus which causes COVID-19, with access to physician interpretation and steering into needed care," Jay Wohlgemuth, M.D., Quest’s chief medical officer, said in a statement.

Customers can go to Quest’s website to order a test, which costs $119, and make an appointment at a blood-draw center, of which Quest (DGX) operates 2,200 in the United States. Anyone who has experienced symptoms of COVID-19 must wait until at least 10 days after their symptoms have subsided, and should arrive wearing a face mask.

After a blood draw, customers will receive their results in a matter of days, though some researchers have questioned the accuracy of antibody tests, and the World Health Organization said last Friday that "no study has evaluated whether the presence of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 confers immunity to subsequent infection by this virus in humans." 

CBS News medical contributor Dr. David Agus said recently that “the tests that we have now on the market ... Don't tell you individually whether you have the neutralizing antibodies, whether you have the antibodies that can prevent you from getting an infection again”

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