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Mon Valley Hospital to offer COVID-19 antibody tests

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MONONGAHELA – Mon Valley Hospital is set to offer COVID-19 antibody tests at five locations.

The testing will begin June 8, and the results will become available within 48 hours, said Andrew Bilinsky, the hospital’s media specialist.

“It’s basically to let you know if you had this virus,” Bilinsky said Tuesday.

The hospital said it is among a few places in the area offering the testing using the federally approved Abbott Architect laboratory system.

This month Vitalant began testing all blood donors for antibodies to the novel coronavirus, the company stated in a news release.

Antibody tests are used to tell if someone had a past infection with SARS-CoV-2. This testing, however, does not indicate whether the antibodies neutralize the virus and protect against reinfection.

A positive antibody test does not mean that someone is immune to COVID-19, but one makes a person eligible to donate convalescent plasma and help people who are still recovering from coronavirus infection, the company said.

In time, antibody tests and clinical followups will provide the medical community with more information on whether a person who has recovered from COVID-19 is immune to the virus and for how long.

A prescription is not required for the Mon Valley Hospital test, which takes five minutes and costs $55 per person.

The tests will be performed at: Monongahela Valley Hospital Outpatient Lab, 1163 Country Club Road, Carroll Township, from 6:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. to noon Saturday; Monongahela Valley Hospital HealthPlex Occupational Health, 800 Plaza Drive, Suite 210, Rostraver Township, from 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday through Friday; Blood Draw Center, 447 W. Main St., Monongahela, 6:30 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. Monday through Friday; Blood Draw Center, 6108 Brownsville Road Ext., Finleyville, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday; and Blood Draw Center, 371 Skyline Drive, California, 8 a.m. to noon Tuesday and Thursday.

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