Anti-body testing of the COVID-19 virus is not available yet. Experts in epidemiology say it is a part of the public health initiative needed to recover from the epidemic that is bringing communities and businesses to hard stop causing economic hardships not seen in decades.
Public Health Director Rich Bullough says he was approached by Utah State Epidemiologist, Dr. Angel Dunn about an anti-body testing pilot program. It is being developed by the University of Utah but Bullough says there is not a lot of information yet.
“My hope is, that further down the road as we begin to see groups of people go back to work, we want to be testing medical providers, first responders, people providing services to those who are at risk. And then especially when we begin to phase into a vaccination component, we're going to have to have antibody tests. We need to know who's had this condition so we can set priorities."
Bullough says there is no cost to the county to host the pilot. As he learns more about the program, he will provide details to the public. KPCW will continue Wednesday Local News Hour interviews with the health department as the county moves into the stabilization phase of the COVID pandemic.
