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Eight historic cases of Covid-19 found in Southern region following mass antibody testing

October 31, 2020

Researchers hunting for tell-tale antibodies zeroed in on more than a 1000 people who could have been exposed at the height of the outbreak.

A study has found eight historic cases of Covid-19 in the Southern region following mass blood testing for antibodies.

The research by Southern Community Laboratories involved tests on more 1,000 people considered a risk of being exposed to the coronavirus at the height of the outbreak.

The deep south was a Covid-19 hotspot with two major clusters, making it the ideal place for researchers to find out if many cases were missed, with 1,000 people tested for antibodies.

“We detected evidence of infection in eight people, who most of them had travelled overseas,” researcher Dr Arlo Upton said.

Less than one per cent of tests returning a positive, a sign New Zealand's public health strategy has worked, Upton and clinical microbiologist Dr Tim Blackmore said.

"We haven't seen any evidence of widespread community transmission," Upton said.

"It looks like we didn’t miss a lot and it was hard work that brought it under control," added Blackmore.

The eight historic cases won't be added to the official tally at this stage. For those people, the results were no surprise.

"I was fortunate enough to speak to the mum of the family, who is very knowledgeable about the coronavirus and she said to me we all thought we had the virus, we were in a situation in Italy where there were other people who were sick," Upton said.

Antibodies help the body fight Covid-19 but the latest research shows they don't last long, casting doubt on immunity.

"Sick people develop quite robust antibody responses, whereas people who had a glancing blow may not get a big response and lose their antibodies," Blackmore said.

A lab in wellington is doing antibody tests for those who need it to travel overseas or to confirm borderline Covid cases.

Positive tests are tested again to rule out false positives, but if people are simply curious to know if they had Covid, the advice is not to get an antibody test.

"That wouldn't work if you've only been in New Zealand because there hasn't been enough Coronavirus in New Zealand, so it would be more if someone had come from the States and wanted to go back to the States, is that a dumb idea or a good idea," Blackmore said.


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