Mt Sinai Scientists Develop Coronavirus Antibody Test

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — Scientists at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai are developing a test that could provide insight into infection rates of the new coronavirus and pioneer techniques used to treat the deadly disease, according to reports and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

A team of immunologists at the Upper East Side hospital published a study stating that they developed a test to screen for coronavirus antibodies that will indicate whether a person has contracted and developed an immunity to the disease. The scientists published the study with directions on how to manufacture the test.

Conventional coronavirus testing determines whether a subject is actively sick with the virus, but the antibody test determines whether a subject has had and is now immune to the disease. The test can be used to better understand how the virus has effected a population, according to the study.

Mt. Sinai's Florian Krammer told Science Magazine that production of the antibody test could eventually be used to test thousands of people per day. The test is not currently approved for use on patients.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has spoken in recent days about using antibodies to treat people with coronavirus and identify people who may be immune to the virus. The FDA has already approved a program where state health officials will inject plasma from people who test positive for coronavirus antibodies into people suffering from the disease. The antibodies could bolster a sick person's immune system to fight the disease, Cuomo said.

Antibody treatments will also be supplemented by the use of anti-malaria medication hydroxychloroquine to treat coronavirus patients. President Donald Trump has spoken optimistically about the medication and expedited its FDA approval, Cuomo said.

On Tuesday, the governor said that healthcare workers whose blood tests positive for coronavirus antibodies may be returned to work to deal with the current flood of patients in state hospitals. During the same briefing, Cuomo said that the peak of coronavirus cases in state hospitals could hit harder and sooner than initial predictions.

"We haven't flattened the curve," Cuomo said. "The apex is higher than we thought and the apex is sooner than we thought."

New York needs 140,000 hospital beds — almost triple the state's 53,000 beds — and 30,000 ventilators that Cuomo said cannot be found or bought.