As governments begin to lift stay-at-home orders and reopen sectors of the economy, you may be wondering how you can continue to stay safe. Practicing recommended CDC guidelines will be key to protecting your health. Please note, the information below does not substitute for medical advice.

The healthcare community’s understanding of the symptoms of COVID-19 has developed over the course of the pandemic. The CDC now advises people to look for the loss of taste or smell, cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, fever, chills, muscle pain, and/or sore throat. Some people with COVID-19 have also reported nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea. These symptoms can appear as mild or severe 2–14 days after exposure to the virus. If sick, call ahead to a healthcare provider to review your symptoms and seek care early if you are immunocompromised, older, or have underlying medical conditions. Seek care immediately if the symptoms are severe.

The virus is spread mainly from person to person. Maintaining a safe social distance from others and wearing a cloth face covering over the nose and mouth remain important safety precautions as states reopen. Washing hands frequently with soap and water and avoiding touching the face are also essential for reducing your risk of illness.

In addition, the CDC strongly recommends routinely cleaning and disinfecting surfaces that are touched often, such as tables, doorknobs, light switches, countertops, handles, phones, desks, keyboards, toilets, faucets, and sinks. It’s important that you understand how to safely use disinfectant products, which can cause severe harm if used improperly.

Disinfectants do not work instantly and most products will recommend pre-cleaning surfaces with soap and water to improve the disinfectant’s effectiveness. The product will typically list how many minutes it must sit on a surface before you wipe it clean and which surfaces it can be applied to; bleach disinfectants are not safe on fabrics. When using bleach-based products, take safety precautions like wearing gloves and ventilating the room. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) lists on its website the products that meet its criteria for disinfecting SARS-Cov-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The EPA also issued a memo reminding the public to never apply disinfectants to yourself or others or on food, never ingest disinfectant products, and never mix products. Read the warning label carefully and follow instructions on the EPA registered disinfectant products.

The high demand for disinfectant products has made it difficult for many people to find these products on shelves or online. If necessary, check the CDC for its instructions on how to safely make disinfectant from diluted, unexpired household bleach for use on hard surfaces. Follow instructions very carefully. The CDC, however, discourages the use of homemade hand sanitizers, which can be ineffective and cause skin burns if made incorrectly. Hand-washing is best, and if you are unable to wash, then use an FDA approved alcohol-based hand sanitizer which lists 60% alcohol on its label.

Some of you may have questions about how to safely handle packages and shopping for essentials like groceries. Packaging is not thought to be the main way that COVID-19 transmits because the coronavirus survives poorly on packaging. But if you wish, according to the FDA, wipe down packaging and the surfaces it touched and allow them to air dry. And the CDC recommends washing hands or using hand sanitizer after accepting deliveries or mail.

Avoid shopping when you are sick. When you do go shopping, prepare a list in advance and wear a cloth mask (some stores may require it). If using reusable bags, clean and wash before every use. Keep at least 6 feet between you and others and wipe down the handles of the shopping cart; avoid touching your face and use touchless payment if possible. If you must touch any uncleaned surface directly, use hand sanitizer afterward. At home, wash your hands before and after handling your purchases. For groceries, follow general food safety practices as usual, such as rinsing fruits and vegetables, immediately refrigerating or freezing perishables, and cleaning kitchen counters regularly. For more information on shopping for food, check the FDA website, and for advice on running other essential errands like getting gas and deliveries, visit the CDC.

Earlier this week we shared with you some background on blood tests to detect COVID-19 antibodies. Here is some additional information about antibody testing. As always, the following does not substitute for medical advice and is for informational purposes only.

COVID-19 IgG Antibody Testing Differs From COVID-19 Diagnostic Testing In Several Important Ways

Both diagnostic and IgG antibody tests require a physician order when performed through a lab, and cost-sharing for both is waived by the Families First Coronavirus Response Act. Here’s where the two tests differ:

The antibody test does not tell you if you have an active infection. So, regardless of the result, you will still need a diagnostic test to confirm an active infection. Please note, the testing labs may have different testing requirements than those listed above.

Ways Members Can Access Antibody Testing

There are several antibody testing options currently available. A prescription is necessary for the test so if you want to get tested for antibodies you should contact your doctor for a test script.

The most cost-effective locations for testing will be through free-standing labs rather than through hospital labs. A primary care physician (PCP) can write a prescription for you to visit a lab’s patient service center (such as a BioReference Laboratories, Labcorp, and Quest Diagnostics patient service center) for the blood draw. Some PCPs may do the blood draw at their office and send the sample to a lab for analysis; you should request that it be sent to a free-standing, MagnaCare-participating lab rather than a hospital lab which will be much higher in cost.

If you do not have a PCP, you can contact a PCP in the MagnaCare network, a telemedicine vendor you have in your plan, or a self-pay telemedicine vendor like those listed here.  Keep in mind that antibody tests ordered or drawn at urgent care centers, hospital-affiliated providers or hospital-affiliated labs will cost the plan more than those ordered by a PCP and sent to a free-standing participating lab.

Otherwise, you can choose to self-pay and schedule an antibody test directly through LabCorp or Quest Diagnostics. You would be responsible for the full cost. These direct-to-consumer options are NOT covered under insurance and cost significantly more than the insurance rates. There are no FDA-authorized antibody home testing kits at the moment.

Reliability of Antibody Testing

According to the CDC, it’s unclear right now if the COVID-19 antibodies provide protection (immunity) against reinfection. Research is underway to confirm if COVID-19 antibodies offer some level of protection as expected.

Many antibody tests are appearing on the market, but they vary in their accuracy. Antibody tests available through BioReference Laboratories, Labcorp and Quest Diagnostics (MagnaCare-participating labs) are said by the labs to meet their standards for specificity and sensitivity. As with any tests, false positives and false negatives are possible.

We hope you find this information helpful as we approach the next phases of our country’s coronavirus response.

COVID-19 diagnostic testing has now been available for several weeks to test for active COVID-19 infections. You might now be hearing about COVID antibody tests, also called serology tests. Results from this blood test might help indicate who has, and how many people have had COVID-19 in the past.

What are antibodies?

In response to an infection, your immune system creates two special proteins called IgM and IgG antibodies. IgM appears first, and then IgG. Usually, the IgG antibodies can still be found in the blood and other tissues for a long time after the infection. The next time the body is exposed to that same infection, the IgG antibodies will try to fight off that infection but there are minimum antibody levels typically needed for true immunity.

The COVID-19 IgG antibodies usually develop 1-3 weeks after infection (the timeline seems to vary depending on whether the person showed symptoms of COVID-19 or not). The COVID-19 antibody test takes a sample of your blood and looks for IgG antibodies specific to COVID-19. The blood test will identify if you have IgG antibodies and should also measure the amount of antibodies. Results are usually available within 72 hours.

What do the testing results mean?

At the moment, antibody blood testing alone should not be used to confirm an active, positive COVID-19 infection; for that you will still need a COVID-19 diagnostic swab test. According to the CDC, a positive antibody blood test result shows you have antibodies that likely resulted from COVID-19. If you have a negative antibody blood test result, it could mean a number of things: you did not have a previous COVID-19 infection, or you have a current infection and the IgG antibodies have not appeared yet in your blood (which is why the NYS DOH recommends waiting at least 21 days before testing for antibodies if you were previously diagnosed with COVID-19 from the nasopharyngeal swab test).

It’s not yet clear how much immunity from reinfection the COVID-19 antibodies provide and for how long, but the COVID-19 antibodies are expected to generally behave the same way antibodies have acted with other types of coronaviruses and offer some level of protection. Over the upcoming weeks, we expect to hear more complete information about antibody effectiveness from emerging studies on COVID-19 immunity. Check with the CDC or local Departments of Health for the latest on immunity research and current recommendations around antibody testing.

How can you get antibody testing?

Just as with COVID-19 diagnostic testing, antibody testing is covered by the Families First Coronavirus Response Act and there is no cost-sharing for the provider visit or the test.

Many commercial antibody tests are appearing on the market, but they could vary in their accuracy. The information on testing is still developing. We’ll continue to share more insights as we learn more.