Coronavirus: Bucharest City Hall starts antibody testing campaign

The antibody testing campaign of the Bucharest City Hall, which is meant to determine how the new coronavirus has spread in the Romanian capital, will start on Wednesday, June 10.

The first 500 Bucharest residents will be tested today, Bucharest mayor Gabriela Firea announced on Facebook. So far, 2,000 people enrolled in the program.

“We launched the program to see, on a scientific basis, how many people have already been infected, given that extended testing is the only way to do this,” Firea said.

“The testing process is safe, painless and adapted to the sanitary rigors of this period - the medical staff checks the temperature with a non-contact thermometer and will wear a protective mask. The doctor uses a sterile disposable needle to get a drop of blood from the finger, by a method similar to that of checking the blood glucose levels of diabetic patients,” she also explained, adding that the participants get the results in 15 minutes.

Testing for the COVID-19 antibodies is being conducted at the National Arena.

Online registration continues at assmb.ro/page/testareanticorpi. In late May, Gabriela Firea said that a total of 10,500 Bucharest residents would be tested for COVID-19 antibodies within this program.

Another free testing campaign of the Bucharest City Hall was launched on May 22, for Bucharest residents who want to get tested for COVID-19 infection. Real-Time PCR tests are being used in this project, and 11,000 Bucharest residents can volunteer to get tested. So far, 10,829 people enrolled in this program, and 1,540 of them were already tested, according to mayor Gabriela Firea. Of these, only two tested positive for coronavirus.

(Photo source: Facebook/Gabriela Firea)