Israel’s Health Ministry reported on Wednesday that starting as of next week, the HMOs across the country will begin conducting serological testing of more than 70,000 people across Israel during routine blood tests. Serological testing is already taking place in Bnei Brak by Magen David Adom on Wednesday.

“The serological tests are an important tool that will give us a much more informative scope of where the coronavirus hotspots are in Israel,” said Health Minister Yuli Edelstein. “With this information, we will be better equipped to deal with a second wave of the virus if it hits us.”

According to the CDC website, a serological test is a “laboratory test to help estimate how many people have been infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Clinicians and researchers refer to this as a serology test, and many commercial laboratories call it an antibody test.”

“An antibody test looks for the presence of antibodies, which are specific proteins made in response to infections. Antibodies are detected in the blood of people who are tested after infection; they show an immune response to the infection. Antibody test results are especially important for detecting previous infections in people who had few or no symptoms.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)