On May 8, 2020, Abbott announced new research, published in the Journal of Clinical Microbiology, which found that its SARS-CoV-2 IgG lab-based serology blood test had 99.9% specificity and 100% sensitivity for detecting the IgG antibody in patients 17 days or more after symptoms began. Independent research was conducted by University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle.

Antibody testing can tell if someone has been previously infected with the virus and may be recovering or has recovered from the infection, in both people with or without signs or symptoms. Large scale antibody testing is seen as an important next step to understanding and addressing the COVID-19 pandemic and is part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) surveillance strategy. Antibody tests provide greater understanding of the virus, including how long antibodies stay in the body, how much of the population has been infected, and how this changes over time.