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Health officials will visit randomly selected residents in DeKalb and Fulton counties April 28-May 4 to perform voluntary blood tests to see if they have already been infected with the coronavirus that causes the COVID-19 disease. The tests will help officials understand how widely the COVID-19 pandemic has spread.

The antibody testing will be conducted by teams from the Georgia Department of Public Health in partnership with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the DeKalb and Fulton boards of health.

“We encourage everyone who is visited by the teams to participate in this very important survey that can help public health officials assess how widespread COVID-19 is in certain areas,” said DPH Commissioner Dr. Kathleen E. Toomey in a press release announcing the testing. “This is another way that Georgians can play a role in helping fight this virus.”

The teams will visit “randomly selected homes in different areas of Fulton and DeKalb counties,” according to the press release. Participation is voluntary. No one else will be allowed to be tested. The testing teams will wear CDC vests and CDC badges, and will have an “official letter” from the CDC and DPH.

Household members will be asked to answer survey questions and provide a blood sample to be tested for antibodies for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Antibodies are produced when someone has previously been infected with COVID-19.

According to DPH, the test cannot determine if a person has an active COVID-19 infection at the time the sample is taken. The antibodies typically take one to three weeks to develop. The antibody test can help identify people who were infected but didn’t have symptoms or weren’t tested for COVID-19.

DeKalb and Fulton were chosen because community transmission of confirmed COVID-19 cases is occuring there.

For more information about the serosurvey, see the DPH website at dph.georgia.gov/covid-19-antibody-testing.

For general information about antibody testing, also known as serology testing, see the CDC website at cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/lab/serology-testing.html.

The post CDC and state want to test randomly selected DeKalb and Fulton residents for COVID-19 antibodies appeared first on Atlanta INtown Paper.

Gov. Brian Kemp’s controversial move to allow restaurant dining rooms to reopen starting Monday, April 27, doesn’t mean your favorite spot will be following that order. Not yet, anyway.

The governor’s order requires restaurants to follow 39 guidelines, including screening employees for signs of illness, requiring all employees to wear masks, and limiting capacity to no more than 10 patrons per 500 square feet in the dining rooms. You can download Kemp’s order with all the guidelines at this link.

Waffle House is one notable exception, announcing last week that it would begin reopening for dine-in service on Monday. Call or check online to see if your favorite  location is open.

However, many local restaurants have posted on social media that they will remain closed except for delivery or takeout.

Two of Atlanta’s institutions – Manuel’s Tavern in Poncey-Highland and The Colonnade on Cheshire Bridge Road – both posted on Facebook that they will remain closed for now.

“”My phone has been blowing up with tons of questions from staff and regular customers asking if we’re going to open on Monday. The answer is no,” Manuel’s owner Brian Maloof posted.

Manuel’s has been completely closed since the pandemic began, but plans to start offering takeout soon. “We will continue doing to-go only until I’m convinced that it’s safe to open the tavern back up completely; it may be several weeks or longer. Don’t hate us for being safe,” Maloof said.

The post Most restaurants will keep dining rooms closed despite governor’s reopening order appeared first on Atlanta INtown Paper.

The May issue of Atlanta INtown is a digital-only edition. We made the decision not to produce the printed publication with the health and safety of our staff and suppliers foremost in mind. INtown will return to print in June, so look for your copy as usual next month. In the meantime, this issue is available to read on your phone, tablet, or computer. Inside you’ll find all new reporting on how parents and students are adapting to learning at home, how recently opened Elemental Sprits Co. navigated the pandemic, Emory University’s mission to feed frontline healthcare workers, arts organizations making masks, and new Above the Waterline and TimmyDaddy columns.

Listen to editor Collin Kelley discuss the May issue in special INtown Insider podcast at the link below.

The post Read INtown’s special online-only issue for May, plus a podcast from the editor appeared first on Atlanta INtown Paper.

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