The once elusive coronavirus antibody test is now available in local municipalities across the country without consumers needing a doctor’s referral. The laboratory Quest Diagnostics now offers direct-to-consumer COVID-19 testing through a website like healthlabs.com
During antibody blood tests, a technician at a local lab draws a person’s blood into a test tube for the purpose of looking for antibodies, which will indicate if that individual was previously infected with the virus.
“Depending on when someone was infected and the timing of the test, the test may not find antibodies in someone with a current COVID-19 infection,” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says on its website.
Antibodies are proteins that assist in fending off infections, but the CDC warns that the “antibody tests should not be used as the only way to diagnose someone as being currently sick with COVID-19.”
The websites of these labs first screen patients online to find out if an antibody test is suitable for them to take. Following this measure, patients plug in their ZIP codes to find a nearby laboratory that administers the test to have their blood drawn. As of now, tests can cost between $119 to $169, and results can be available within a 48-hour period.
