If you think you’ve been infected with the novel coronavirus at some point in the past, most COVID-19 tests performed in a hospital or at a testing site isn’t good either. That one will only detect the viral presence in a nose or tracheal swab. But if you’ve survived the infection, you need an immunity test to confirm it. Those are serological tests that look for antibodies in the bloodstream to prove you’ve beaten COVID-19, and they’re really not widespread yet. But if you want to check for coronavirus antibodies, you can now order an at-home test for $119.
The coronavirus test kit comes from QuestDirect and it will deliver results in one or two days. The test checks only for immunoglobulin G (IgG) antibodies in the bloodstream, which don’t typically present themselves until between 10 to 18 days after infection. That’s to say that you can only use this test if you think you’ve been exposed to the virus and survived the infection at some point in March. You must understand this test will not tell you whether you still have the coronavirus in your system because it does not detect immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibodies.