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Coronavirus pandemic

Russian labs to start making COVID-19 antibody tests within ten days

The test system allows for identifying those who have had the coronavirus infection, studying herd immunity and estimating the effectiveness of vaccines being developed

© Sergei Karpukhin/TASS

MOSCOW, April 14. /TASS/. Tests for COVID-19 antibodies will begin to be made at laboratories across Russia within ten days, the deputy director of the Central Research Institute of Epidemiology under the consumer rights watchdog Rospotrebnadzor, Alexander Gorelov, said on air with Russia’s federal TV Channel 1.

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"Within ten days the test system will be available to laboratories across Russia, to any laboratories that make blood tests," he said.

He added that once the quarantine restrictions were lifted, the system would be available to private laboratories, too.

"The sole restriction that will stay effective will be the lockdown period. To donate venous blood for analysis patients are required to come to the laboratory. We recommend everybody to refrain from this during the quarantine and the period of sanitary restrictions," Gorelov added.

The test system allows for identifying those who have had the coronavirus infection, studying herd immunity and estimating the effectiveness of vaccines being developed.

Earlier, consumer rights watchdog chief Anna Popova said that in Moscow testing for the novel coronavirus antibodies would be rolled out on Tuesday. First and foremost, it will target medical staff, because it is crucial to understand how well protected from the virus they are.

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