Scientists Looking To Antibody Testing For Answers Amid Coronavirus Pandemic

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) -- It has been weeks since the World Health Organization declared a pandemic due to the novel coronavirus.

Restrictions on day-to-day activities have made people eager for things to get back to normal.

With antibody testing popping up across the nation that can tell if a person was infected and is now immune, researchers say those tests may reveal when it's safe to go about our lives as we once did.

In an interview Sunday, FDA Commissioner Stephan Hahn cautioned Americans about how accurate some of the tests may be.

"I think it's very important for the American people to know that we need tests that are accurate, reliable and reproducible," Hahn said.

The FDA has already approved one antibody test and gave the green light to others to start testing as they await approval.

The National Institutes of Health started testing 10,000 volunteers, and locally, USC and L.A. County Department of Public Health have teamed up to test 1,000 people.

RELATED: New COVID-19 Antibody Pilot Testing Begins Friday Across LA County

"The goal here is to figure out who may have had this and that's a critical number in figuring out how deadly this disease might be," said Neeraj Sood, lead antibody study investigator.

The simple blood tests start with a prick of the finger and results take just 10 minutes.

If positive, the person may have antibodies that can be tested further.

"Antibodies definitely confer some immunity but we don't know the true extent of the immunity," Sood said.

Most antibody tests are still in the beginning stages but doctors are already seeing the impact it's having on people.

"They want that peace of mind," Sood said. "They want to know whether they are susceptible or have immunity against this disease."

USC and L.A. public health will be conducting the tests on the same people every two weeks.

There are also private labs charging people who want to test for coronavirus antibodies.