You have been randomly selected to participate in a screening test to determine how many Los Angeles residents may have had or been exposed to COVID-19 novel coronavirus. This is an anonymous study that will provide information that could help scientists understand the virus and make plans to care for people during the outbreak.

This study is being conducted to help understand how many people may have been infected with COVID-19 (also called “coronavirus”). Many people may have no symptoms or mild illness similar to a common cold. The test being used in this study will allow public health workers to understand how many people in the city of Los Angeles may have already had or been exposed to COVID-19.

You were selected at random to participate in this study. Your selection has nothing to do with any health problems you may have or your protected healthcare information. You will remain anonymous if you choose to participate in this study. The random sample of people enrolled in this study will allow scientists to learn more about how COVID-19 could be affecting your community and greater Los Angeles.

No. The test is only available to the person who received the link and survey. This is to help researchers make sure the people they are testing are not all from one household or community. If you are experiencing severe symptoms or think you or a family member may be ill, please seek medical care.

Yes. Others may accompany you to the testing site but the test is only available to the person who received the link and survey. Please do you best to limit contact with anyone outside your household and maintain social distance.

Yes. Please do not ride the bus, train, or other public transport to reach the testing site. If you are experiencing severe symptoms please seek medical care.

Yes. The test is considered an essential activity and your participation will provide the Department of Public Health with vital information about the spread of COVID-19.

No. This study is separate from the drive-up testing organized by the County of Los Angeles. Participants for this study have been chosen at random and are not limited to individuals who are in the most high-risk categories and most vulnerable. For more information about the drive-up testing, please visit covid19.lacounty.gov/testing.

If you agree to participate, you will receive a test to see if there are antibodies for COVID-19 virus in your blood. This test requires about 5 microliters (a vial about the size of a fingernail) of blood. We will be taking the blood sample using a small device called TAP-II. The TAP II device is the size of a poker chip and sticks to the skin with a light adhesive. When the button on the device is pressed, a vacuum forms and 30 micro-needles pricks the surface of the skin. The vacuum draws blood out of the capillaries and into a sample pod attached to the bottom of the TAP II device.

This is a different test from the one used to diagnose patients who have symptoms and go to hospital (called "PCR test"), which tests for the virus itself. Antibodies are part of the body’s defenses against infections, and they develop after infections such as coronavirus and stay in the blood even after the infection is over. This test provides the Department of Public Health useful and critical information about the prevalence of COVID-19 in Los Angeles County, but it cannot tell you if you have an active infection or not.

A negative antibody test can mean one of the following three things:

1. You have not had infection from COVID-19.
2. You may have COVID-19, but the infection is very recent (within the past 3-7 days), and antibodies have not developed yet.
3. The test result was a false negative which means there is a small chance you do have COVID-19 antibodies even though the test results say you do not. Though the test manufacturer has validated the tests and results show this test is accurate, no test is perfect and there is a small chance that a negative test was a “false negative.”

A negative test may mean that you are still at risk of being infected with COVID-19.

A positive antibody test can mean one of the following three things:

1. You have an active case of COVID-19, even if you have no symptoms right now. You may start to develop symptoms, or you may have a mild case of COVID-19 without symptoms. In either of these cases, you could be transmitting it to others.
2. You had COVID-19 in the past and have recovered from it. Because antibodies are part of the normal immune response and stay in the blood after recovering from an illness, they show that someone has had an infection in the past. This means you could be protected from another infection from COVID-19, but we do not know for sure.
3. The test result was a false positive, which means that there is a small chance you have no antibodies to COVID-19 even though the test results say that you do. We believe this test is accurate, but no test is perfect and there is a very small chance that a positive test was a “false positive.”

If you have a positive test, since we cannot tell if you are having an early active stage infection (see #1 above), it is very important to follow public health guidance to avoid infecting other people. We recommend the following:

1. Self-isolate for 7 days following the date of your test and notify people you have been in close contact with to go into self-quarantine. Instructions for self-isolation and self-quarantine are located in your handouts and online here:
   Home Quarantine instructions: English | Spanish
   Home Isolation instructions: English | Spanish
2. If after 7 days you do not have symptoms, you may remove yourself from self-isolation but continue with public health guidance, including physical distancing (staying 6 feet apart from other people) and reducing your exposure to others, including lowering the time you spend away from home.
3. If you develop symptoms at any point and call your medical care provider, please tell your provider that you received this result. You can call it the “antibody test” or “serology test”. If you need help finding medical care or mental health services, call the Los Angeles County Information line 2-1-1, which is available 24/7.

More information on COVID-19 can be found in your handouts and online at: http://publichealth.lacounty.gov/media/Coronavirus/FAQ.pdf.