MOSCOW, October 30. /TASS/. An antibody cocktail can only be effective against the novel coronavirus during the early stage of the disease, professor of the School of Systems Biology of George Mason University (Virginia, USA) Ancha Baranova said at the VTB Capital Investment Forum "Russia Calling!"

"If an individual is tested using the PCR method for the presence of the coronavirus and the result is obtained in a week, then for some methods of treatment [it is] already a rather meaningless test. I will give a simple example: you’ve probably heard about an antibody cocktail US President Donald Trump was treated with. Well, this antibody cocktail can only work effectively in the early stage of the disease," she said.

The scientist noted that if there is a delay in the detection of the disease, then after seven days, when the results of some PCR tests arrive, this medicinal treatment cannot be used anymore.

The number of the coronavirus infections in Russia, according to the latest data, has increased by 18,283, the highest during the entire pandemic. The total number of infections has risen to 1,599,976.