Moscow announces free mass testing for COVID-19 antibodies beginning May 15

Beginning on May 15, Moscow will be offering its residents free mass testing for COVID-19 antibodies, RIA Novosti reports, citing Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin.

According to Sobyanin (as quoted by TASS), every week up to 70,000 people “will receive an invitation to come to a clinic” and undergo an enzyme analysis.

“In Moscow, there is a technical possibility of increasing [antibody] diagnostics to 100,000 tests per day,” the Mayor said, adding that later on, the number of tests could be increased to 200,000 per day.

Data from the results of this testing will serve as the basis for easing quarantine measures, Sobyanin said. 

Moscow residents will be selected at random for participation in the antibody testing drive, Deputy Mayor Anastasia Rakova told Interfax. Testing will take place in all districts, and the sample will be formed “equally, depending on the age structure present in each district.”

As of May 14, Moscow registered 130,700 cases of COVID-19, with an increase of 4,712 cases and 53 deaths in the past day. All total, 21,500 people in Moscow have reportedly recovered from the disease in full.

On the morning of May 14, Russian officials announced that the country recorded 9,974 new coronavirus infections in the past day, bringing the nation’s total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases to 252,245 patients. Another 93 people reportedly died from the disease, raising Russia’s total number of fatalities officially caused by COVID-19 to 2,305. As many as 53,530 people in Russia are known to have recovered fully.