Germany Considers Immunity Certificates, India Utilizes Ink and Chalk

Healthcare officials in Germany are planning to issue hundreds of thousands of antibody tests that could allow people to return to work. 

If the project is approved, those who test positive for COVID-19 antibodies may receive “immunity certificates” allowing them to break quarantine.

This is very similar to what happens at the end of the 2011 movie Contagion, where those who have been vaccinated receive an immunity bracelet. 

Here are some problems I see with Germany’s idea:

• The project would require time and resources that could be spent shoring up healthcare systems.
• As noted by Fox News contributor Dr. Nicole Saphier, researchers still do not know if those with antibodies can get re-infected. 
• Young people may try to get sick just so they can get certified and return to work. 
• Some people will attempt to create false immunity certificates.
• The certificates could create class divisions and social unrest

The United Kingdom has similar plans to implement massive antibody testing in hopes of easing restrictions. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who is ‘working from home’ after testing positive for COVID-19, has ordered millions of at-home testing kits.

In Spain, authorities were forced to return 58,000 testing kits to China after discovering the kits had an accuracy rate of roughly 30%. Nearly 650,000 rapid testing kits have been distributed to medical staff and the elderly in recent days. 

In India, which is making do with whatever resources are available, residents are using bandanas instead of face masks and are boiling water when soap is unavailable. To reduce transmission, authorities are using indelible ink to mark the hands of individuals arriving from countries with high numbers of infections.

The ink stamp, which reads “Home Quarantined,” takes roughly two weeks to wash off.

The Indian government has also utilized prime-time television and wireless carries to spread information about the coronavirus and is planning to approve a $20 billion aid package to help its poorest residents deal with business closures.

At stores that remain open, owners are enforcing social distancing by drawing chalk circles on the pavement and using chutes and other contraptions to transfer items to customers without physical contact. 

Tech entrepreneurs are using social media to teach hospitals how to use plumbing supplies and other readily-available items to fix broken ventilators and to build modifications that could be used to attach up to eight people to a single machine.

With most transportation services closed, India’s railway ministry is turning unused railcars into isolation wards.