New York State on Monday will begin conducting antibody tests to help determine how many New Yorkers were infected by the disease, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced Sunday.
A sample of 3,000 state residents will start receiving tests from the state Department of Health to detect for the presence of antibodies produced by people infected with COVID-19, Cuomo said.
The governor’s office noted that Germany — with a population of 83 million to New York’s 19.5 million — used the same sample size for its antibody testing survey.
“This will be the first true snapshot of exactly how many people were infected by COVID-19,” the governor said in a statement.
The testing, Cuomo said, “will help us to reopen and rebuild without jeopardizing what we’ve already accomplished.”
Testing positive for the coronavirus antibodies does not prove immunity, the World Health Organization said Friday.
