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NC Sen. Berger: Testing Results Could Guide Re-Opening Timeline

This 2020 electron microscope image made available by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows the spherical particles of the new coronavirus, colorized blue, from the first U.S. case of COVID-19. Antibody blood tests for the coronavirus could play a key role in deciding whether millions of Americans can safely return to work and school. But public health officials warn that the unregulated tests are creating confusion that could ultimately slow the path to recovery. (Hannah A. Bullock, Azaibi Tamin/CDC via AP)

State Senator Phil Berger and Wake Forest infectious disease expert Dr. John Sanders provided new details on an antibody testing program for COVID-19 during a press conference Wednesday.

The legislature is providing $100,000 in the search for answers.

The plan is to distribute as many as 25,000 tests by mid-May. Volunteer patients of Wake Forest Baptist and Atrium Health in Charlotte will then be tracked to see if they have the antibodies.

Dozens of blood tests are coming into the market with varying reliability. Sanders says there are limits to testing but there's still value in doing them.

“We expect that over time that we are going to learn that some tests are better suited than others,” he says. “And that some antigens — the component of the virus that we're detecting antibody against  — are more important than others in terms of predicting disease outcome as well as predicting potential protection.”

Sanders says he's hoping the results of the study can be used to track the disease in the region down to the zip code level.

Sen. Berger (R-Surry) says not knowing the prevalence of the disease is a missing piece of information that's needed to make the decision on re-opening the economy.

"This study and others may show that the virus is worse than the current models that are out there are projecting," he says. "But without hard data to back up the opinions that are being expressed, people are increasingly going to be reluctant to comply with government-mandated shutdowns. The data that comes from this study may also show that the situation is much better than those models project. In that case, I believe we can be confident that a reopening of the economy can be done safely. Either way, the key thing is that we need to know."

For the most up-to-date information on coronavirus in North Carolina, visit our Live Updates blog here. WFDD wants to hear your stories — connect with us and let us know what you're experiencing.

Paul Garber is a Winston-Salem native and an award-winning reporter who began his journalism career with an internship at The High Point Enterprise in 1993. He has previously worked at The Augusta (Ga.) Chronicle, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, The News and Record of Greensboro and the Winston-Salem Journal, where he was the newspaper's first full-time multimedia reporter. He won the statewide Media and the Law award in 2000 and has also been recognized for his business, investigative and multimedia reporting. Paul earned a BA from Wake Forest University and has a Master's of Liberal Arts degree from Johns Hopkins University and a Master's of Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He lives in Lewisville.

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