Capitol Fax.com - Your Illinois News Radar

Tiny green shoots

Posted in:

Illinois

Scientists are starting to roll out new blood tests for the coronavirus, a key development that, unlike the current diagnostic tests, will help pinpoint people who are immune and reveal the full scope of the pandemic.

The “serological” tests — which rely on drawn blood, not a nasal or throat swab — can identify people who were infected and have already recovered from Covid-19, including those who were never diagnosed, either because they didn’t feel particularly sick or they couldn’t get an initial test. Scientists expect those individuals will be safe from another infection for at least some time — so the tests could signal who could be prioritized to return to work or serve as a frontline health worker.

That story was from last week.

* Yesterday…

Two US companies have launched a rapid antibody test for the coronavirus, which can be used to detect if a person’s immune system has Covid-19 or has recovered from it.

BD, a large medical technology company, and BioMedomics, a North Carolina-based clinical diagnostics company, announced a new point-of-care test that can detect evidence of past or present exposure to the virus in as little as 15 minutes.

But…

BD plans to make a million tests available in the coming months, distributing through its partner healthcare supplies company Henry Schein.

Without a vaccine, the only way we can start getting people back to work after the peak is to find out who may be immune.

We need reliable tests and we need to get production scaled up fast. That’s why the Defense Procurement Act is so important in times like these…

Invoking the Defense Production Act is hardly a rare occurrence. As recently as last summer, the Department of Defense used it to obtain rare earth metals needed to build lasers, jet engines and armored vehicles.

The Defense Department estimates that it has used the law’s powers 300,000 times a year. The Department of Homeland Security — including its subsidiary, FEMA — placed more than 1,000 so-called rated orders in 2018, often for hurricane and other disaster response and recovery efforts, according to a report submitted to Congress in 2019 by a committee of federal agencies formed to plan for the effective use of the law.

The law, which was used frequently by previous administrations as well, does not permit the federal government to assert complete control over a company. The federal government can, however, use it to jump ahead of other clients or issue loans so a company can buy all of the supplies it needs to complete the government’s order by a specific date. A rarely used authority of the law also allows the administration to control the distribution of a company’s products and determine where such materials go.

posted by Rich Miller
Wednesday, Apr 1, 20 @ 10:40 am

Comments

Scientists, thank you.
Teachers who educated and inspired today’s scientists, thank you.

Maybe we’ll remember this the next time some yayhoo politician/media outlet decides to malign educational professionals.

Comment by efudd Wednesday, Apr 1, 20 @ 10:56 am
This is potentially very beneficial. People can be tested to see if they’ve already developed an anti-body to the virus.

The downside is that there is evidence that having the virus, previously, does not preclude one from re-acquiring it.

Similarly, having antibodies in your system, doesn’t necessarily preclude one from still being a “carrier”.

It’s valuable information, to be sure.

Comment by Downstate Wednesday, Apr 1, 20 @ 10:58 am
I know this is kind of federal, but the more I learn about the Defense Production Act, the more outraged I am that the President hasn’t asserted it more. The level of obsequiousness to private industry is staggering.

Comment by Three Dimensional Checkers Wednesday, Apr 1, 20 @ 10:59 am
Can you provide a cite for that “300,000 times a year”?

Comment by Trying To Be Rational Wednesday, Apr 1, 20 @ 11:02 am
I’ve read this disease may have been in the U.S. longer than thought, but was simply misdiagnosed. I am fairly certain I had COVID back in December. I had a 3 week cough and went to the hospital twice with difficulty breathing. The doctors said there was an odd case of pneumonia going around. I’d love to have an antibody test and then be able to volunteer somewhere.

Comment by Just Me 2 Wednesday, Apr 1, 20 @ 11:04 am
===Can you provide a cite===

Are you daft? Click the link

Comment by Rich Miller Wednesday, Apr 1, 20 @ 11:10 am
=Are you daft?=

Rhetorical.

Comment by A Guy Wednesday, Apr 1, 20 @ 11:12 am
=I’ve read this disease may have been in the U.S. longer than thought, but was simply misdiagnosed.=

I have wondered about this as well. It seemed like a lot of people were really down with a bad cold/flu in Dec and Jan. If it was Covid, why wasn’t it as contagious then as it is now?

Comment by Because I said so.... Wednesday, Apr 1, 20 @ 11:17 am
== I have wondered about this as well. It seemed like a lot of people were really down with a bad cold/flu in Dec and Jan. If it was Covid, why wasn’t it as contagious then as it is now? ==

FWIW, this is as anecdotal as it gets, but I was hospitalized Feb. 29 for a COPD flareup with presenting symptoms — high fever, dry cough, etc. — that were so similar to what I was reading about in the news that I called ahead before going to Doc-in-the-Box, where they called an ambulance and took me to the ER. It cleared up a couple of days later, and I was told I had one of the respiratory viruses that was going around at the time. But I do wonder what they might have found if adequate testing had been available.

Comment by olddog Wednesday, Apr 1, 20 @ 11:54 am
If you’ve been tested, and you’re ok’d to be in public, Illinois needs volunteers. https://www2.illinois.gov/sites/serve/Pages/default.aspx

Comment by revvedup Wednesday, Apr 1, 20 @ 12:07 pm
oh this is good news

Comment by Anonymous Wednesday, Apr 1, 20 @ 12:23 pm
Just Me 2:

We had a couple of people in our office with similar symptoms back in December and Janauary and we too are now wondering if the virus was already here then. As you said, would be interesting to find out.

Comment by Demoralized Wednesday, Apr 1, 20 @ 12:31 pm
My wife and I both had the flu in January. At least that is what we thought. I spent many night in the recliner, because I couldn’t sleep laying down. The coughing was continuous. Looking back considering the coughs, and fevers, I have to wonder if we had the Corona Virus. I am an avid gym rat, and I stayed away from our local gym, for over two weeks, to help keep others from getting the flu from me. We have been fine since that bout in January.

Comment by Retired Educator Wednesday, Apr 1, 20 @ 12:55 pm
==== It seemed like a lot of people were really down with a bad cold/flu in Dec and Jan

This was a bad year for the flu already and that is more likely what people experienced (I had it). If it had been Covid-19 the hospitals would have seen a much larger jump in hospitalizations over what they did for a bad flu year.

Comment by ArchPundit Wednesday, Apr 1, 20 @ 1:15 pm
=== The downside is that there is evidence that having the virus, previously, does not preclude one from re-acquiring it.===
I haven’t seen any reference to that evidence. All I have seen is that scientists think people who had covid-19 have immunity but they can’t be certain.

Comment by Da Big Bad Wolf Thursday, Apr 2, 20 @ 9:21 am