CHRISTUS Health to offer rapid COVID-19 antibodies test at Houston locations

The tests can produce results in approximately ten minutes and could be “a game-changer” in helping battle the pandemic and restart the economy. (File photo) The tests can produce results in approximately ten minutes and could be “a game-changer” in helping battle the pandemic and restart the economy. (File photo) Photo: Melissa Phillip, Staff Photographer Photo: Melissa Phillip, Staff Photographer Image 1 of / 48 Caption Close CHRISTUS Health to offer rapid COVID-19 antibodies test at Houston locations 1 / 48 Back to Gallery

CHRISTUS Health is offering a new rapid screening tool that will help identify asymptomatic COVID-19 patients and those who carry protective antibodies against the deadly disease, according to a news release.

The tests are currently being offered at CHRISTUS hospitals across the U.S. and Latin America. Representatives said the tests are currently only being offered at its hospitals but plans are in the works to expand testing to all of its clinics, which include several Houston-area locations.

The tests can produce results in approximately ten minutes and could be “a game-changer” in helping battle the pandemic and restart the economy, Dr. Harvey Fineberg, a professor in the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, said in the release.

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The tests will first be administered to caregivers on the front lines, hospitalized patients and patients scheduled for urgent surgeries.

“With the availability of an antibody test, we can test anyone who comes in for an urgent surgery,” Dr. Sam Bagchi, CHRISTUS Health’s EVP and Chief Clinical Officer, said in the release. “This will allow us to reliably know if a patient has COVID-19 before they start having symptoms or might normally be tested.”

CHRISTUS Health is now limiting visitors inside facilities, screening anyone who enters a facility, isolating COVID-19 patients, conducting random temperature checks on staff and requiring staff to wear face masks.

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Editor's Note: This story has been updated to reflect that testing at Houston clinic locations will be added in the future.

Rebecca Hennes covers community news. Read her on our breaking news site, Chron.com, and on our subscriber site, houstonchronicle.com. | rebecca.hennes@chron.com