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Showing posts with the label WHO warns that few have developed antibodies to COVID-19

WHO warns that few have developed antibodies to COVID-19

NewsColony WHO warns that few have developed antibodies to COVID-19 © Provided by The Guardian Photograph: Denis Balibouse/Reuters Only a tiny proportion of the global population – maybe as few as 2% or 3% – appear to have antibodies in the blood showing they have been infected with Covid-19, according to the World Health Organization, a finding that bodes ill for hopes that herd immunity will ease the exit from lockdown. “Easing restrictions is not the end of the epidemic in any country,” said WHO director-general Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus at a media briefing in Geneva on Monday. “So-called lockdowns can help to take the heat out of a country’s epidemic.” But serological testing to find out how large a proportion of the population have had the infection and developed antibodies to it – which it is hoped will mean they have some level of immunity – suggests that the numbers are low. “Early data suggests that a relatively small percentage of the populations may have been inf...