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Recent news reports make it clear that too much is still unknown about the coronavirus to reopen businesses anytime soon or even think about allowing large gatherings of any kind. Those who have recovered from the virus still don’t know whether they are immune to it or whether they can still transmit it.

Gov. John Bel Edwards told The Advocate the state will need the new blood tests, more of the coronavirus tests now in use and extensive tracing of the disease’s spread. He said the state is going to be looking to do as much testing as possible.

A new blood test, called a serology test, is used to establish whether someone has developed antibodies to the disease after infection. Edwards said gauging that immunity is critically important when making decisions about loosening stay-at-home orders and other restrictions.

State health officials said they are already working with labs to gain serology test capability. Ochsner Health System executives said last week they ordered serology tests and expected to receive them within two weeks.

To understand the scope of infection, The Advocate said Louisiana and other states across the country will need to test a representative sample of the thousands of people who may have had the disease but who were not sick enough for an initial traditional test or were sick before widespread testing was available.

Edwards said if the new tests are used in the state they would likely show that a majority of residents haven’t been exposed to COVID-19. If that is the case, the governor said most people would still be at risk of catching the disease when restrictions are lifted.

A Tulane University epidemiologist who specializes in infectious diseases said immunity tests would be especially helpful for front-line health care workers. She said it could ease their anxieties as they treat patients. The tests can also help doctors identify immune people who can donate plasma to dangerously sick COVID-19 patients.

The newspaper said a number of companies are asking the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for permission to begin selling the new 20-minute tests, but only Cellex has received that clearance.

U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge, said at a recent online town hall meeting that blood tests remain one of the best possible indicators of whether Louisiana can begin to restart life as residents know it.

While there are some promising developments under way to get the economy going again, the best path forward as of now is for citizens to keep doing what they have been doing to protect themselves and others from the virus.