Support for LAist comes from
Audience-funded nonprofit news
Stay Connected
Audience-funded nonprofit news
Listen

Share This

News

To Better Track The Coronavirus, An LA Antibody Study

(NIAID-RML)
()

With our free press under threat and federal funding for public media gone, your support matters more than ever. Help keep the LAist newsroom strong, become a monthly member or increase your support today. 

Testing people to see if they currently have COVID-19 only tells us so much. It’s perhaps more important to know who has had it, including those who never got sick.

That’s where a blood test for antibodies comes in.

You develop antibodies a few days after getting infected. That information can help us better determine how far the virus has spread and how deadly it really is.

Support for LAist comes from

To start getting answers, researchers with USC and L.A. County launched a study today to test a demographically-representative group of 1,000 Angelenos for COVID-19 antibodies.

“That information is needed, because right now, we are making decisions about this disease based not on real data or evidence, but based on worst case scenarios from mathematical models,” said USC Professor Dr. Neeraj Sood, who’s leading the study along with officials from the L.A. County Department of Public Health.

GO DEEPER:

LA Antibody Study Will Try To Determine Extent Of Coronavirus Spread

Our news is free on LAist. To make sure you get our coverage: Sign up for our daily coronavirus newsletter. To support our non-profit public service journalism: Donate Now.

At LAist, we believe in journalism without censorship and the right of a free press to speak truth to those in power. Our hard-hitting watchdog reporting on local government, climate, and the ongoing housing and homelessness crisis is trustworthy, independent and freely accessible to everyone thanks to the support of readers like you.

But the game has changed: Congress voted to eliminate funding for public media across the country. Here at LAist that means a loss of $1.7 million in our budget every year. We want to assure you that despite growing threats to free press and free speech, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust. Speaking frankly, the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news in our community.

We’re asking you to stand up for independent reporting that will not be silenced. With more individuals like you supporting this public service, we can continue to provide essential coverage for Southern Californians that you can’t find anywhere else. Become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission.

Thank you for your generous support and belief in the value of independent news.

Chip in now to fund your local journalism
A row of graphics payment types: Visa, MasterCard, Apple Pay and PayPal, and  below a lock with Secure Payment text to the right
(
LAist
)

Trending on LAist