Colombian researchers hope to deepen their understanding of COVID-19 by testing the public for antibodies to the novel coronavirus.

“This survey permits us to estimate  the seroprevalence, meaning the proportion of people in the country that were exposed to the virus, since the start of the pandemic,” said the country's Director of Epidemiology at the Ministry of Health Julian Alfredo Fernandez Niño.

Researchers will conduct the study in10 Colombian cities. They will take random blood tests from different genders and age groups to ensure the study reflects the general population.

According to Colombia's Center for Disease Control, seroprevalence studies look for antibodies in blood samples.

Because many infected people show no symptoms, the percentage of blood samples with anti-COVID antibodies will produce a better picture of how widespread the disease has been in Colombia.

"For us as the officials that make decisions for our population this study is key, because it permits us to adjust our models and to know the probability that the pandemic will behave a certain way in each territory," Fernandez Niño said.

"It also helps us take into consideration the population that we may find is still at risk.”

The government tests will be conducted through November 30th in major cities like Bogota, Medellin, but also in more remote regions of the Colombian Amazon. The test results will determine which age groups and what regions get immunized first when a vaccine becomes available.

The test results will be published in scientific journals in April of next year.

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