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If you recently had a positive result for a COVID-19 antibody test it’s possible you didn’t have COVID at all. Antibody tests check your blood for antibodies to the virus that causes COVID-19, but the virus comes from a family of similar viruses that will also show up on the test.
That means that unless you were actually diagnosed with COVID-19, you could have just had a cold. You also may test positive for antibodies even if you have never had symptoms of COVID-19, but were infected with it.
If that sounds confusing, a negative test could cause even more confusion, as it may not mean you’re actually negative, either, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This is because you might be infected, but are not showing symptoms or producing antibodies yet.
SOURCE: U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention June 30, 2020