Trump administration preparing to launch federal coronavirus antibody testing project in New York City
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration is planning to launch a pilot program that will involve widespread testing of New York City residents for antibodies to the coronavirus, according to documents reviewed by Yahoo news.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency “is coordinating a White House request for NYC to be the ‘Restore America’ pilot city for serology and phlebotomy screening,” the document says. No other details are provided.The following day, April 26, a FEMA interagency document again referenced the pilot program, noting it would be run by the White House and the Department of Health and Human Services.
And since antibodies confer immunity, people who have coronavirus antibodies could presumably resume their lives with less concern than those who have not yet been infected. Even more important, they could donate their blood so that those antibodies could be harvested and used to treat COVID-19 patients.
Story continuesFor a pilot program in New York — which has been the epicenter of the outbreak in the U.S. — federal authorities would almost certainly use a test manufactured by a large commercial laboratory. But as of Monday evening, virtually no details about the program were available.
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