Coronavirus antibody tests could reveal higher number of people infected

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - As coronavirus antibody tests roll out across the country, Los Angeles officials now believe the total number of people infected with the virus could be nearly 55 times higher than the number of confirmed cases.

In Los Angeles alone, officials estimate that nearly 442,000 people have been infected since April 9th.

“These tests are good for counting the number of people who have had COVID,” said lead investigator Neeraj Sood, professor of public policy at the USC Price School for Public Policy and senior fellow at the USC Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics. “These tests are not good for telling if someone has immunity against COVID.”

New York officials also plan to perform antibody testing trials on 3,000 people across New York, one of the states his hardest by the outbreak.

Experts urge reopening of the economy to be dependent on the results of coronavirus testing.