Antibody Testing

August 19, 2020

See which NYC neighborhoods have the highest rates of COVID antibodies

The city on Tuesday released the results for roughly 1.5 million coronavirus antibody tests conducted since mid-April. The new data confirms earlier reports that the virus has hit people of color and low-income communities harder than more well-off neighborhoods in New York City. At 33 percent, the Bronx saw the highest rate of people who tested positive for COVID-19; in Manhattan, 19 percent of antibody tests were positive. A new map and table released by the city's health department break down antibody testing rates by ZIP code, age, borough, sex, and neighborhood poverty.
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June 16, 2020

New York’s latest COVID antibody survey shows a rise in the Bronx and minority communities

Today, Governor Cuomo released the results of the state's second-phase COVID antibody test, which randomly surveyed 12,000 people between May 1 and June 13. When the survey commenced, 12.3% of New York residents tested positive, compared with 13.4% on Saturday. The new results are more telling, however, when it comes to disparities in New York City. Though overall there was only a 1.6% increase (19.9% to 21.6%), the Bronx increased by 5% and Brooklyn and Queens by 2.1%. There are also disparities when it comes to race, as the Black and Latino/Hispanic communities have seen increases of 3.4% and 5% respectively.
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May 20, 2020

Antibody testing shows coronavirus is still spreading in NYC’s minority communities

The coronavirus continues to spread in lower-income communities and communities of color in New York City, according to antibody test results released by the state on Wednesday. New York earlier this month partnered with Northwell Health and city churches to test residents of low-income neighborhoods, with 8,000 antibody tests conducted to date. According to preliminary data from those tests, 27 percent tested positive for COVID-19 antibodies, compared to the city's overall antibody rate of 19.9 percent.
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May 7, 2020

City to offer 140K free antibody tests to NYC residents

The city will offer 140,000 free antibody tests to "everyday New Yorkers" in the coming weeks to help understand the spread of the coronavirus, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Thursday. In partnership with BioReference Laboratories, the city will open initial testing sites in five neighborhoods with the goal of 1,000 tests per site per day. An additional 140,000 tests will also be available for the city's first responders and health care workers next week.
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April 22, 2020

Following meeting with Trump, Cuomo says New York will double COVID testing capacity

It was a question of friend or foe leading up to Governor Cuomo's meeting at the White House yesterday, but it looks like the governor, who has been referred to as the "Trump whisperer," came out of the chat with some concrete federal commitments when it comes to advancing coronavirus testing in the state. After the meeting, the governor announced a partnership with the federal government that will double the current daily testing capacity from 20,000 to 40,000, which includes both diagnostic and antibody tests. The state will manage the actual tests in its laboratories, but the federal government will be responsible for handling the international supply chain issues associated with testing that are out of the state's purview.
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April 15, 2020

New York lays out phased reopening blueprint, will begin state-wide antibody testing

In his press conference today, Governor Cuomo gave the first concrete information about how the state will begin the process of reopening. A basic phased approach will take into account two factors: 1) How "essential" the business service or product is and 2) What the risk of "infection spread" of the business is. To get to that point, New York will begin state-wide antibody testing and tracing. Last week, the state Department of Health announced that it had developed its own such test and this week will begin 2,000 finger prick antibody tests per day. New York has also asked the FDA to expedite the process of a similar finger prick test that could test up to 100,000 New Yorkers a day.
More details ahead