Coronavirus Study Aims To Find How Far The Virus Has Spread

LOS ANGELES, CA — Each day we see new numbers of confirmed coronavirus cases, cases where people have gotten tested and the results confirm that they are infected. However, because coronavirus patients can be asymptomatic, showing few or no outward signs of the disease, health experts say it's likely many more people are infected but don't know it. Now, a new study by Los Angeles County hopes to better track those asymptomatic carriers and determine the true spread of the virus, and possibly even when the pandemic may start to return to normal.

As the Los Angeles Times reports, starting Friday the county is randomly picking 1,000 residents to draw blood and see if they have been infected with the coronavirus at any point. By randomly selecting who will give blood, experts say they can get a better idea how much of the overall population has the virus, including patients who are asymptomatic and might not normally get tested.

The tests are being conducted at drive-thru sites across the country Friday and Saturday, and then again every two weeks according to KTLA. By monitoring how the test results change every two weeks, researchers say they might be able to determine how the virus spreads over time, and hopefully use that information to forecast when the pandemic will end. The data could also be used to determine the disease's mortality rate, and how the immune system fights back against the virus, as reported by ABC 7.

Los Angeles County's study is one of several similar studies, including one in Santa Clara County that has reportedly already drawn the blood of 3,000 patients. It also mirrors a similar study from Washington where volunteers were asked to take nasal swab coronavirus tests, regardless of if they had showed symptoms in the past or not.

The Los Angeles County study remains unique from most others, however, because it uses blood tests for antibodies instead of traditional nasal swabbing tests. The county says using a blood test allows them to check a patient for antibodies, which will give them more insight into how the body responds to the virus and fights off the infection.

Read the full report on the study from the Los Angeles Times here.