combining covid pcr tests with serology tests makes no sense.
mixing this data is confusing and creates an erroneous impression. this confounded by the use of serology testing for antibodies that can have high rates of false positive numbers. Since various labs and testing facilities are using tests produced by misc manufactures and many of these not validated or approved by the fda they should not be used. Additionally serology tests with specificity of less than 100% should be avoided. Additionally your reporting form should include the name and manufacturer of the test, so inaccurate test results can be excluded from analysis.
Don Vance
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Maria
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Yes, combining PCR and serology/antibody test results makes for erroneous impressions and meaningless numbers. If new daily (or weekly) case numbers include results from both, there is no information gained in terms of trend since those showing positive for antibodies could have been infected months ago. There is also no information gained about whether mitigation measures are having any effect. New positive antibody/serology test results, even when accurate, tell us nothing about new infections and give the impression that cases are increasing when that may not be what's really happening.