"COVID-19 Antibody Test Followed by Issuance of Immunity Certificate? A Very Premature Judgment" (Update)

Kwon Jun-wook, Deputy Director of the Central Disease Control Headquarters [Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heung-soon] The quarantine authorities have drawn a clear line against claims that antibody testing for the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) should be conducted and immunity certificates issued to transition to daily quarantine measures, calling such demands "very premature and not based on evidence."

On the afternoon of the 16th, Kwon Jun-wook, Deputy Head of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters for COVID-19, stated at a regular briefing, "This is because we are not currently in a situation where we can accurately understand or analyze antibodies to the COVID-19 virus."

Antibody testing is a procedure that analyzes blood to confirm whether antibodies against a specific disease have formed. The presence of antibodies is interpreted as immunity. Some overseas countries, including certain European nations, are conducting or considering large-scale antibody testing to gauge the scale of COVID-19 infections and to allow those with antibodies to return to normal life. Domestically, some have argued that such testing should be conducted on certain groups, such as examinees, and that a phased transition to daily quarantine measures should be considered based on immunity levels. However, the accuracy of such tests has not been proven.

Deputy Head Kwon said, "Regarding COVID-19 quarantine measures, the extent to which antibodies have formed in the community, whether the formed antibodies actually provide protection, and how long protective antibodies last during an infection outbreak are issues that all quarantine organizations worldwide are curious about. On this matter, the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters has plans to establish seroepidemiological analysis and is conducting research surveys to verify this."

Nevertheless, he clearly stated that issuing immunity certificates to return to daily quarantine measures simply because antibodies are detected is premature.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.