New York launches widespread antibody testing

Washington: New York on Monday launched a large-scale COVID-19 antibody testing of random samples in an effort to find out how much of its population has been infected with the coronavirus.

The testing is run by the state's health department and started with 3,000 samples this week based on a random selection of the state's 19 million people, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo was quoted by Xinhua news agency.

The testing is regarded as a key step to determine when and how to reopen the state's economy, while scientists voiced concern over its accuracy.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said there is still "way to go" to trust antibody testing in making the reopening decision.

"Unless that test has been validated and you can show there's a correlation between the antibody and protection, it is an assumption to say that this is something that we can work with," Fauci said on Monday's "Good Morning America" on ABC.

According to Cuomo, New York state recorded 478 COVID-19 deaths on Sunday, the lowest single-day death toll in weeks.

Though the state has passed the plateau, no one knows how long will it take to trek down the other side, said Cuomo.

"Think about what we've gone through. Think about how many New Yorkers we've lost and are still losing. We must tread very carefully," he warned.

The governor once again called on the federal government to provide funding to hard-hit states like New York, which needs hundreds of billions of U.S. dollars to fill its budget hole.

Cuomo said hospitals, schools and local government could face some 20 per cent budget cut unless Congress passes a 500-billion-dollar state aid bill in the coming days.