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Walker County clinic to offer rapid antibody testing to determine past COVID-19 infection

This undated electron microscope image made available by the U.S. National Institutes of Health in February 2020 shows the Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, orange, emerging from the surface of cells, gray, cultured in the lab. Also known as 2019-nCoV, the virus causes COVID-19. The sample was isolated from a patient in the U.S. (NIAID-RML via AP)
This undated electron microscope image made available by the U.S. National Institutes of Health in February 2020 shows the Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, orange, emerging from the surface of cells, gray, cultured in the lab. Also known as 2019-nCoV, the virus causes COVID-19. The sample was isolated from a patient in the U.S. (NIAID-RML via AP) This undated electron microscope image made available by the U.S. National Institutes of Health in February 2020 shows the Novel Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, orange, emerging from the surface of cells, gray, cultured in the lab. Also known as 2019-nCoV, the virus causes COVID-19. The sample was isolated from a patient in the U.S. (NIAID-RML via AP)

By Patrick Filbin 4 min read

A health clinic in LaFayette, Georgia, will start offering rapid antibody testing Friday for health care workers and first responders. The “rapid screen” is not meant to serve as an official diagnosis of a COVID-19 infection but is designed to detect antibodies, the proteins that signal an immune response, and are used to determine past infection.

Leslie Weaver, owner of the Ready Clinic and one of six nurse practitioners on staff, said the plan was originally to offer the tests to only health care workers and first responders in Walker County but, due to demand, the clinic likely will open up testing to the public on a first-come, first-served basis.

The new rapid test is a serology, or blood serum, test. The drive-thru, finger-prick test at the LaFayette clinic will test for two antibodies: IgG and IgM. The first indicates a previous infection and the second indicates a current infection.

If someone were to test positive for IgM, they would be referred to their primary health care provider in order to get a COVID-19 test.

“This is for people who have had it and recovered or for people who have had symptoms for longer than five to seven days,” Weaver said. “This is not a test to confirm a COVID-19 diagnosis. This is really to give people peace of mind.”