UK study: antibodies last 6 months after infection

A UK biomedical research body said on Wednesday that COVID-19 antibodies stay in the system for six months after infection, according to a new study. UK Biobank studied the blood of over 20,000 participants who had recovered from coronavirus, and found that 99% retained antibodies to the virus for three months post-infection and 88% did so for six months. 

The study showed that younger people - 13.5% among those under 30 - had the most detectable antibodies than older people - 6.7% among those over 70. The most common symptom associated with having coronavirus antibodies was a loss of sense of taste and smell, which was reported by 43% of sero-positive participants. The UK currently has 3,882,972 reported cases of the coronavirus and 109,547 COVID-related deaths.