Germany is to carry out Europe’s first large-scale coronavirus antibody testing in an effort to help researchers assess infection rates and monitor the spread of the virus more effectively.
Lothar Wieler, head of the Robert Koch Institute, on Thursday announced details of three serological tests — one of blood donations, one involving four areas of the country that had seen large outbreaks of the virus and a representative study of the broader population.
In determining infection rates, experts currently use models based on data that can quickly become obsolete or incomplete, and they have long argued that spot checks and randomised tests are a better approach.