After weeks of antibody testing, Florida to report results for the first time Friday
Florida will release numbers on Friday of COVID-19 antibody tests performed at drive-thru sites in Miami Gardens, West Palm Beach, Orlando and Jacksonville, the governor’s office said, data that could offer one indicator of how widespread the disease has become.
“We will be posting on the [Department of Health] website and making publicly available state antibody testing results,” said Helen Aguirre Ferré, the spokeswoman for Gov. Ron DeSantis. “Going forward, you can expect this information every Friday on the website.”
Doctors and researchers say they do not know for sure if a past COVID-19 infection — and the antibodies to the disease that develop afterward — provide any protective immunity. Public health experts in Europe have discussed the possibility of an “immunity passport,” documentation that would show if a person has had COVID-19 and could be allowed to return to work or other public places without fear of contracting or spreading the disease.
But the World Health Organization and many public health groups have warned against the idea, saying there is still no proof that antibodies in the blood mean a person is immune to a second infection.
Florida has been testing healthcare workers, firefighters, police officers and other first responders for antibodies over the past three weeks. The state won’t say exactly how many tests have been done except to say that each drive-thru site can test 100 people per day. The tests are also being distributed to hospitals to test health workers.
State officials did not respond to questions about whether private test results will be included in the data. However, one medical company operating a private drive-thru antibody testing site in Aventura and Bal Harbour said in mid-May that the company was not reporting results to the state.
Antibody tests may become a key part of Florida’s long-term plan for reopening if doctors and researchers prove that antibodies protect against COVID-19 and determine how long immunity lasts.
Healthcare providers are required to report new COVID-19 cases to the state. But the health department has not yet revealed what it plans to do with antibody testing data or how the information will be used to inform public policy.
Jason Mahon, a spokesman for the Florida Department of Emergency Management, which is operating the state test sites that are conducting the antibody tests, said in a prepared statement that the state recognizes the value of the tests but did not divulge details of the state’s strategy.
“Antibody testing serves a critical role of informing the state’s response and understanding where COVID-19 has been in Florida,” he said. “We look forward to using these results to help direct resources where they are needed most.”
The antibody tests purchased by the DeSantis administration are manufactured by a company called Cellex Inc., with offices in North Carolina and China. According to a purchase order, the state initially spent $4 million for 8,000 testing kits at $500 each from Cellex, though DeSantis has since said that Florida has as many as 200,000 tests available.
The tests, which require a fingerprick to obtain a drop of blood, provide results in 10-30 minutes, and they do not require a laboratory or specially trained professionals to process. Mahon said the state is sending antibody tests to hospital systems and working with county emergency operations centers to distribute tests.
Researchers say states can start using antibody tests now to identify the percentage of their populations that have had COVID-19, a survey known as a seroprevalence study. That’s an important first step to understanding the disease’s impact, said Gigi Gronvall, an immunology expert and professor at Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Health Security.
“What they should be doing is they should be using it to develop a seroprevalence number,” Gronvall said. “They should be driving towards what percentage of our population in Florida has had COVID-19.”
Gronvall said prevalence studies that identify the percentage of the population that has had COVID-19 can also help public health officials direct resources to those who have been hardest hit by the disease, such as low-income communities and minority populations, and direct more resources to them.
In Miami-Dade County, for instance, African Americans who tested positive for COVID-19 have died at a higher rate than whites and other races — about 6.3% of blacks with the disease have died compared to 4.5% of whites, according to the health department’s daily report on Wednesday.
A seroprevalence study would help public health officials zero in on such disparities, Gronvall said.
“You’d be able to see these things and public health should be able to do something about it,” she said.
Gronvall co-authored a report on developing a national strategy for antibody testing and said she and her colleagues are working on a follow-up that could help states figure out how best to conduct seroprevalence studies. Among the recommendations, she said, will be for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to outline best practices and protocols for states to perform seroprevalence tests.
The CDC released interim guidelines this week warning that antibody test results can have high false positive rates and should not be used to make decisions about returning people to work, schools, dorms or other places where people congregate.
A number of seroprevelance studies already have begun, including an independent survey conducted by Miami-Dade County and the University of Miami. Initial results found that about 6% of the county’s population — about 165,000 residents — have antibodies indicating a past infection. But the survey has been placed on hold after federal regulations spurred county officials and UM researchers to switch tests.
This story was originally published May 28, 2020 at 11:12 AM.
