A new study has found that tests can show a positive result, even though the virus is no longer active • Meaning: The tests detect people who are no longer sick or spread the virus • One researcher said:
Do the tests detect a virus that is not active at all?
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Experts at Oxford University say corona tests could detect the remains of a dead virus, and still show a positive result for the virus, according to Sky News.
A study by the same experts found that there is a risk of a "false positive" answer, due to the fact that the test detects remnants of a virus that is no longer active, so people are defined as blue, when in fact they no longer carry the virus or are not contagious.
Corona tests at the entrance to Eilat // Photo: Idan Shem Tov
Such a thing has many implications for the amounts of patients actually reported, as well as the number of people who go into isolation following any person defined as positive, when he or she may not be carrying the virus at all.
The test gives a positive or negative result, which the scientists say amounts to is too simplistic.
They found that the tests were able to detect traces of the virus' genetic material for a much longer period of time than it remained contagious - meaning a person who was found to be positive might have the virus in their system, but would not necessarily pass it on.
Another genetic material that the test may detect is actually dead virus particles, which have already been treated by the body's immune system.
One of the study's authors, Professor Carl Hangan, told Spectator magazine that this may be part of the reason why the number of cases in the UK, for example, is rising, but the number of deaths due to COVID-19 remains static.
He said an "international effort" was needed to prevent "the dangers of isolating entire people or communities that are not contagious at all."
Hangan added that "the accumulating evidence shows that a significant proportion of mild cases or cases of people being re-examined after isolation or discharge from hospital show positive results even though they are not contagious. Their immune system is dealing with harmless virus particles."