The tests were administered to 1,000 members of the New York City Fire Department (FDNY), including emergency medical technicians, and 1,000 members of the New York City Police Department (NYPD). Initial results showed about 17 percent of those tested at FDNY carried coronavirus antibodies, as did 10.5 percent of those at NYPD. Of all 2,000 people sampled, about 16 percent tested positive overall.
Cuomo said the state would administer another 1,000 antibody tests to transit workers employed by the MTA, State Police and Department of Corrections and Community Supervision before the end of the day on Wednesday. As New York drafts strategies for a phased return to economic operations after more than one month of lockdown, the governor has pushed for expanded testing procedures to accurately identify the virus’ spread.
“We know testing is key to re-opening New York,” he said in a statement Wednesday. “It is the indicator that will show if we are keeping the infection rate down throughout the re-opening process.”
New York began distributing antibody tests to controlled groups last week. The medical assessment uses blood samples to measure the presence of antibodies produced in response to infection with the new coronavirus, meaning those who test positive have, at some point, contracted the disease. Since antibodies are produced whether a person presents symptoms or not, the test helps determine the legitimate scope of a region’s outbreak. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned weeks ago that many individuals who contract the virus are asymptomatic and may not be aware of their infection in light of limited access to diagnostic testing. They can still transmit the disease to others.
The governor shared updated results from the state’s first round of antibody tests on Monday. Amending a previous announcement issued last week, Cuomo said nearly 15 percent of the 7,500 New York residents sampled had tested positive. Coronavirus antibodies were detected in nearly one-quarter of those tested in New York City.
During Mayor Bill de Blasio’s daily news conference on Wednesday, he unveiled plans to test more than 150,000 first responders and healthcare workers across New York City. The mayor said the city intends to start testing as early as next week and assess all doctors, nurses, law enforcement officers, firefighters and EMTs before the end of May.
New York has the United States’ most severe coronavirus outbreak, with a large fraction of its cases diagnosed in New York City. As of Wednesday afternoon, 299,691 positive cases have been confirmed statewide, and at least 23,384 people have died as a result, according to Johns Hopkins University’s coronavirus tracker. New York has diagnosed almost 30 percent of the nation’s confirmed cases and nearly 40 percent of its deaths. Still, numerous epidemiologists and other health experts suspect the coronavirus’ true impact is much more widespread than current numbers reflect.
