IBX News

The state Legislature worked with Wake Forest University to provide at-home antibody test kits to help determine the spread of COVID-19 in North Carolina. 

North Carolina awarded $100,000 to Wake Forest to acquire the COVID-19 test kits to conduct the study, House Speaker Tim Moore (R-Kings Mountain) said in a statement on his website in April. 

The test kits will go to a representative sample group of North Carolina residents, Moore said, and is led by Wake Forest Drs. John Sanders, David Herrington with Drs. Michael Runyon and Michael Gibbs at Atrium Health. 

Moore said that this step of research is incredibly important as it will help the state understand where it is at in the fight against COVID-19. 

“Representative population sampling data will provide state leaders more critical information we need to move forward reopening our economy and supporting a strong recovery in North Carolina,” Moore said. “As we prepare an immediate legislative response package to help North Carolinians affected by this emergency, we will also pursue a comprehensive scientific understanding of this pandemic and its potential long-term impacts on our state.”

Those who are participating in the study will be asked to prick their finger and send that blood sample in to the researchers. The at-home antibody tests will be sent to participants every month for a full year, which will help researchers keep track of the immunity rates of the virus. 

“Wake Forest University and Atrium Health are leading the way in pioneering a representative sample antibody study,” Sanders said in the statement. “Coupled with state-of-art syndromic surveillance and in collaboration with leading healthcare providers and companies, our work will help fill a data gap that has existed since the start of the pandemic.”

Since the start of the public health crisis as of May 20, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services has reported more than 20,000 positive coronavirus cases and 702 deaths.