Ichor Blood Services was recently featured on Global News Toronto after expanding its COVID-19 antibody serology testing service to the city. To watch the story or read the accompanying article, click the corresponding button below.
Ichor Blood Services and its COVID-19 antibody serology testing service recently caught the eye of award-winning investigative and consumer reporter Sean O'Shea. The story, headlined "Would you pay $165 to find out if you had coronavirus?", aired on August 20 on Global News Toronto. It features Ichor Blood Services President Mike Kuzmickas discussing the benefits of our COVID antibody test. It also touches on the high demand we've seen for this service and features Patti Palamarek, a satisfied Ichor customer whose testing came back positive for the antibodies associated with COVID-19, providing her with peace of mind in knowing she'll be protected from reinfection, at least for a short period of time.
WATCH OR READ THE FULL STORY ON GLOBAL NEWS
Ichor Has You Covered
If you're looking for COVID-19 antibody testing in Calgary, Edmonton, or Toronto, Ichor Blood Services has you covered. We've recently begun accepting bookings for our COVID-19 serology antibody testing collection service. Your sample is shipped to our laboratory testing partner, who will determine if you have potentially been exposed to the virus and now have the antibodies for it. For more information on our COVID-19 serology antibody testing collection service, click the button below.
What is Antibody Testing?
Antibody testing is a way for us to see if individuals have come in contact with a certain virus or disease. When our body encounters a pathogen that wants to do us harm our immune system creates antibodies to fight it. These antibodies are detectable in our blood and are unique to the pathogen they were created to defend against. Antibodies also remain in our system much longer than the actual genetic material of the virus, providing a larger window to detect them.
Why is Antibody Testing Important?
There are two key reasons why COVID-19 antibody testing is deemed to be important:
1) Prevalence: We still don't know how widespread SARS-CoV-2 is among the general population. We have an idea with the testing that's been done to date, namely polymerase chain reaction nasal/throat swabs, but they only provide a snapshot of a specific time as they only determine active infections. With many cases of COVID-19 being reported as mild and asymptomatic cases being confirmed, we can use antibody testing to get a better picture of how many people have been infected and if we're on the path to acquiring herd immunity.
2) Protection: There is evidence that those who have been infected with SARS-CoV-2 and now have the antibodies for it are afforded protection against the disease, at least for a short period of time. While the scientific community is racing to figure out just how long that immunity lasts, it will take some time before it's fully known. In the meantime, the idea of 'immunity passports' has been floated around as a way to let people travel and return to work in a more safe manner. Antibody testing would be the best way for governments or organizations to determine who receives these types of hypothetical passports.
WHAT WILL A SECOND WAVE OF COVID-19 LOOK LIKE?
Contact Us
Ichor is offering corporate or large group bookings and travel testing for COVID-19 antibody or active PCR test collection. For more information please give us a call at 1-844-242-6728 or fill out our contact form.
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