Quote Originally Posted by Mike T View Post
Antibodies were found in almost all (96%) of those who had a previous infection confirmed by a swab test. If T cell immune response was important without B cell help - antibodies - I would have expected that % to be rather lower. It is important to differentiate between immunity - implying resistance to infection - and immune response, where infection may still occur but may be milder/asymptomatic.

A Royal College of Physicians survey showed that 25% of doctors who replied had tested positive, despite most having had face to face contact with many cases. So, either PPE works, or test results are falsely low - probably a bit of both. But rising cases in many countries suggests that documented herd immunity has yet to be reached anywhere, apart from perhaps some boroughs in New York.

A Swedish immunologist has been quoted as saying that opening schools would help achieve herd immunity, and that opening schools would be safe - both cannot be right. Sweden has had 3 to 7 times the deaths of its neighbours per head of population.
Mike I'd be interested in where you get the 96% from. Have you a link?

I just smell a rat that's all. Because in the early days of the virus, almost all tests were hospital admissions ie the very ill.
Those self diagnosing with mild symptoms stayed at home and didn't have a test.

If this 96% comes from this group of hospital admitted infections, they are the ones that would have most likely developed the anti-bodies.

Likewise I would expect the asymptomatic would be less likely to develop anti-bodies and the state hasn't got a clue who or how many asymptomatic ex Covid cases there are out there.

For example, I can well imagine if you did such an exercise on the Blackburn Spike cases, they would be unlikely to have developed anti-bodies.