Antibody tests indicate that there is much more cononavirus infected

In Finland, there were five times as many coronary infections as showed official data on the first wave of pandemic from March to May, the Public Health Institute reported today.

Official statistics were based on diagnostic tests of samples from the nose or throat of a person with symptoms, while tests for antibodies are conducted on blood samples to determine who was infected.

“had approximately 1.5 to five times more infections compared to confirmed clinical cases,” said the Finnish Institute.

The huge difference in numbers is largely explained by insufficient testing in the first wave of pandemic, said institute head Mika Salminen.

The institute began testing antibodies in Finnish hospitals in April to determine the true degree of pandemic, including among those infected but without symptoms.

Salminen says the results also showed there were fewer young people infected in the first wave than today.

The institute also analysed the results of comparable evidence for antibodies from other countries and concluded that the figures from Spain were much higher.

“At the peak of the spring epidemic, a markedly greater number of cases, up to ten times, went unnoticed in Spain,” said Salmen.