Italy launches antibody tests for Coronavirus immunity

Italy began conducting antibody tests in the northern region of Lombardy on Thursday, seeking information about coronavirus immunity to help guide authorities as they reopen the long locked-down country.

Lombardy, the region hardest-hit by the coronavirus crisis in Europe’s worst-affected country, is betting that the science about “herd immunity” derived from the blood tests will help the prosperous industrial region return to work faster and safer.

Nearly 13,000 people have already died of the virus in densely populated Lombardy, whose capital is Milan — more than half of Italy’s total dead.

Although Germany has already started nationwide antibody tests and countries such as Finland and Britain have announced plans to roll them out, many questions remain about how reliable data derived from the tests will be.

Health authorities have said 20,000 tests would be performed every day in Lombardy. First to be tested are those in the worst-hit provinces: health workers, those under quarantine showing coronavirus symptoms and those they have been in contact with, as well as others with mild symptoms.

Authorities hope to roll out the tests to the wider region after April 29.