A leading antibody test which claims 99% accuracy has been approved for use in Europe after success in the US

• A leading antibody test was approved for use in Europe on Wednesday.
• Medical diagnostics firm Abbott says it will distribute millions of "IgG" tests in Europe by the end of May.
• These tests will likely be useful to governments trying trace the spread, but critically — like all other antibody tests in use — it does not show if a person has immunity.
• The tests were first rolled out in the US on April 15, with 4 million units already circulated there in April, Abbott said.
• The test works by locating the antibody protein IgG, which show if a person has had COVID-19. The antibody can last in the body for years after the original infection, the company said.
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An antibody test claiming 99% accuracy in seeing if people have contracted the novel coronavirus has been approved in Europe.

Medical diagnostics firm Abbott announced Wednesday that its IgG serology blood test was awarded a CE mark, meaning it complies with EU safety requirements.

In a statement shared with Business Insider, Abbott said its test identified with 99% accuracy the presence of COVID-19 in 73 coronavirus-positive patients who took the test 14 days after they showed symptoms.

The test works by locating the antibody protein IgG, which show if a person has had COVID-19. The antibody can last in the body for years after the original infection.

Tests on 1,070 samples without the coronavirus also came back with 99% accuracy, the company said.

While the test shows if someone has contracted the virus, it does not show if that person has immunity. There is not yet a test in existence that can.

The presence of antibodies in the blood does also not guarantee immunity to a virus. It also takes time for antibodies to breed within the human body, meaning the test may not work on someone who is in the early stage of infection.

Abbott plans to produce and circulate millions of tests for use across Europe, it said. The company already has a number of COVID-19 tests in use in the UK.

The same blood test was rolled out in the US on April 15, with some 4 million to be produced by the end of the month there, the company said.

The antibody tests can only be run through one of Abbott's two widespread laboratory testing machines, which process as many as 200 tests per hour. There are 2,000 machines in the US and 250 in the UK.

The test is useful as some studies have shown that as many as 50% of those carrying the coronavirus show no symptoms at all.

The test will likely be useful to governments seeking to trace the spread of the virus and slow the spread of infections.

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