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Research Testing Underway To Help Gauge Breadth Of COVID-19 In North Carolina

Wake Forest Baptist Health is teaming up with Atrium Health and others to conduct research on the coronavirus pandemic. DAVID FORD/WFDD

Wake Forest Baptist Health is spearheading an effort to test 1,000 state residents to see if they've had COVID-19. 

The tests are designed to look for coronavirus antibodies in a random sampling of patients. The goal is to get a clearer idea of how widespread the virus is and was in North Carolina.

Dr. John Sanders, a co-leader behind the year-long study, says the results “will help fill a data gap that has existed since the start of the pandemic.”

Sanders told the News & Observer that the Food and Drug Administration has approved coronavirus antibody tests for research, but not for clinical use.

The survey has the backing of North Carolina's GOP-led legislature, which is providing $100,000 to Wake Forest University to begin random sampling.

State Senator Phil Berger released a statement saying the study “will help us learn if the true situation is better or worse than the models project.”

Volunteers can self-administer the tests at home, eliminating the need to interact with health care providers or use personal protective equipment, which is in short supply.

The tests are being produced by Los Angeles-based Scanwell Health, which began sending them out this week.

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.

Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.

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