Virus Documentation

Jane, I am sorry you both had Covid-19 but I am glad you both had it and recovered - and it’s really cool to be helping with the research aspects. It will be very interesting to hear how and if the documentation helps with future European travel.

I'd be happy to know if that document helps you.

I'm not sure because there isn't proof yet that you can't get the virus twice.

Glad you both pulled through

In Florida, oneblood.org is doing COVID Igg and Igm antibodies testing if you will donate blood. It will be interesting to see if this will help with out future travels. We too are hoping to see Scotland in Sept but doubtful....staying hopeful.

So glad you have recovered from COVID Jane!

COVID Igg and Igm antibodies testing

Decoder ring please .... my box of Cracker-Jacks didn't have it.

I have seen/read reports of people getting it a 2nd time, putting 'immunity' into question. Unsure what your documents will do for you.

I believe, unless there is a standardized international (or national) format for this type of documentation and clearly spelled out procedures, it may not be as useful as it sounds. Many people can create very official looking documents on their computer (even using logos from well-known institutions), but who is going to authenticate their veracity in other countries? What criteria would they use to accept certain documents and not others, for example?

Right now, everyone is muddling through and there are no clear ground rules, just "concepts" that have yet to be operationalized. There are no reciprocity agreements between different countries to accept certain "proof" that I know of (yet).

joe,

"COVID Igg and Igm antibodies testing..... Decoder ring please .... my box of Cracker-Jacks didn't have it."

I believe these are blood or body fluid tests which detect two types of immunogloblulin, IgG and IgM. These provide a means to determine if a person is infected or is immune to infection.

I think I’m lost as I don’t understand why you need to bring documentation that you had the Covid virus in March.

I was never tested because I was too ill to get out of bed as I got very sick in late March. When the antibodies test became available at my pulmonologist’s office, I had it done. It was the Covid-19 IgG Antibody. Specifically, the test results read “SARS coronavirus Ab [Titer] in Serum”. The blood work from the antibody test came back positive.

Why would any government official in Switzerland need to see this information if I were to travel there as I had planned to do so this past April?

As an aside, for anyone interested, for that antibody test, if your result value is 1.4 or greater, then you have tested positive for the antibodies. Mine was 5.5.

I took the antibody test as well....they were not able to give me my titer number in my test but I do know that I am producing antibodies to Covid-19. My husband and I are planning as of now to take our trip to Switzerland in September.....hope we can!

If the borders are closed to American tourists then no documentation you have can get you through passport control. You’ll be stopped and turned around and put on the next available flight home. My daughter and granddaughter live in Switzerland, and currently the only way for me to see them is if they travel here.

We had a big trip planned for right now to visit, but here we sit at home. You’ll need to be patient and flexible and wait until the situation improves.

Before relying on your antibody test (and everyone else's), you may wish to consider The Base Rate Fallacy:

https://nyti.ms/3bzivnX

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Base_rate_fallacy

Probability and Statistics is a tough subject. But without using politics or medicine, it is accurate to say (quoting the Times article) "In a population whose infection rate is 5 percent, a test that is 90 percent accurate could deliver a false positive nearly 70 percent of the time."

The point is that the questions:
"How many people in 100,000 have positive antibody tests?"
and
"I have a positive test. What is the chance that it is accurate"
are completely different statistics.

Interesting quote from Dr. Deborah Birx in the AARP Bulletin.......”The piece of this that should be reassuring to people is that when you get an infection and you make antibodies, your body remembers how to do that. You may not be currently making antibodies, but as soon as you get reinfected, your body remembers that and then quickly makes antibodies-much quicker the second time. People shouldn’t be concerned that their antibody levels may wane, because if they do get reexposed, they’ll make antibodies very quickly”.......good to know!

That's a good point (by Dr. Birx), but some vaccines require booster shots every few years because they only provide immunity for a fixed period. We don't know if the eventual SARS-2 vaccine will fall into that category (whether lifetime protection or for limited time). Another example: the influenza vaccine mutates into new strains, so there are flu shots given every year to boost our immune systems.

....and she addressed the mutation question as well.....”the coronaviruses in general are fairly stable in their protein matrixes. That’s the good part. Of course, we don’t have experience with this virus. The hope is a vaccine that is made today against COVID-19 will work tomorrow and will work a year from now”.....Dr. Deborah Birx

I’m just here to say that I’m glad you and your husband recovered.

I suppose that if today they are asking for COVID test results of Schengen citizens, then in the future it is conceivable that they will be asking US citizens when they arrive. Good idea to keep the papers for at least four days....

Austria
Austria opened its land borders with Germany, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary and the Czech Republic on 4 June.

There will be no entry checks, except for on the Italian border.

For anyone else who does arrive in Austria, for example by air, a medical certificate must be produced proving a negative COVID-19 test.

The certificate cannot be more than four days' old.

Entry by air is prohibited to citizens coming from countries outside the Schengen Area.

Thank you Geraldine....I am thankful too! It is a mean virus!