It wasn’t easy to build a COVID-19 antibody test during Illinois’ statewide lockdown.
FILE PHOTO: Northwestern University Professor Thomas McDade inspects a 96-well plate used to quantify coronavirus disease IgG antibodies in dried blood spot samples at the Laboratory for Human Biology Research, Department of Anthropology at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, U.S., April 24, 2020. Thomas McDade/Handout via REUTERS
Across the United States, academic and regional government researchers have embarked on antibody testing initiatives to determine how the coronavirus is spreading, how deadly it is and who is likely to suffer its worst effects. The results could help return the country to normalcy, scientists say, by revealing who is still susceptible and guiding prevention efforts and lockdown decisions..
In a statement, Mia Heck, a spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Human Services, said the administration of President Donald Trump “continues to improve America’s testing capabilities and capacity. As part of these efforts, the Administration is working with diagnostics companies and academic researchers to develop the next generation of tests, testing platforms, and testing protocols. Antibody testing is a particularly important area of ongoing inquiry.
Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston did one study based on a street corner in a Chelsea, Massachusetts, neighborhood with high COVID-19 hospitalization rates, finding that 31.5% of people had antibodies. In another study across several Boston neighborhoods, the same researchers found 10%.
“I wouldn’t have necessarily chosen Bolinas as the one community to test,” said Dr. Matt Willis, Marin County’s public health officer. The quasi-public Biodefense and Emerging Infections Resources , funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases , provides free materials to registered researchers looking to make tests, including those for COVID-19 antibodies. But it’s first come, first served, and some scientists say they have waited weeks for the materials they need.
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