UPMC to begin COVID-19 antibody testing at its hospitals

PITTSBURGH — Our area’s largest healthcare provider will start testing all patients for coronavirus antibodies.

During a news conference Thursday, UPMC announced it will soon begin offering antibody testing to all patients when they come to any hospital.

The test will identify whether a person’s immune system has created antibodies against the virus.

UPMC officials said they are seeing a decline in COVID-19 cases.

Only 2% of their 5,500 beds are occupied by patients with COVID-19 and 234 patients have been discharged and are now recovering at home.

“We are building our capacity to not only test but to have the most reliable test that answers were you exposed and are you immune. We are already use it in some of our patients to learn more about the virus and we will soon be offering the testing to all of our patients,” said Dr. Donald Yealy of UPMC.

UPMC said it is working to refine its own antibody test and should be ready in two to four weeks.

Last week, UPMC announced it was testing all patients for COVID-19, even those who do not show symptoms.

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