In May, researchers at the Department of Health, partnered with Brown University, recruited random participants, sending out about 5,000 letters to households across the state.
“We don’t know if having antibodies is protective against COVID-19,” said Dr. Philip Chan of the Department of Health. “What antibodies and serology are good for though, is that they tell us on a general population level, what percentage of Rhode Islanders may have had COVID-19 in the past, even if they weren’t tested.”
According to the study, communities of color are experiencing disproportionately high positivity rates. It found 8% of Hispanic and Latino participants had antibodies to the virus, compared to less than 1% of white participants. Similarly, 5% of African Americans in the study had antibodies.
Dr. Chan says the Department of Health is working to address health equity problems in communities of color. Steps will include expanding free walk-up testing centers, distributing translated education materials, specializing contact tracing, and enhancing data collection.
“If we don’t look for the problem, then we’re not going to find it,” Dr. Chan said about demographic data collection “This is an ongoing challenge. We do require that race and ethnicity is reported to the DOH. But when you have multiple tests being run across multiple institutions and across multiple physicians and providers, of course not everyone’s reporting that.”
The Department of Health estimates it has demographic data on about 75% of tests administered in Rhode Island. The Department will continue to introduce more holistic and consistent data collection.
Dr. Chan says the 2.2% seroprevalence rate is lower than expected, but more work needs to be done. “We still need to be vigilant because it also means a lot of Rhode Islanders are still susceptible potentially to COVID-19,” he said.
The Department of Health reported 84 new cases and 10 deaths today. “We continue to be in a steady good place,” said Dr. Nicole Alexander Scott.
