Gov. Andrew Cuomo says samples will be taken from thousands of people across the state over the next week as the state turns its focus to antibody testing in the battle against COVID-19.

Cuomo says the state Department of Health is going to start the large-scale antibody testing to find out what percentage of the population that has had coronavirus may now be immune.

The governor says the antibody testing survey will sample 3,000 random people, and is one of the key pieces of information that will guide decisions about reopening the economy.

"This will be the first true snapshot of what we're really dealing with," said Cuomo.

The governor made the announcement Sunday about the antibody testing from a research lab at Northwell Health, one of the many labs the state is working with to expand testing.

He took a tour of the lab to see how it added new machines and equipment to do the antibody testing, along with more diagnostic tests.

Antibody testing is already underway at Northwell. News 12 has been told that about 200 employees who tested positive for the coronavirus have now been tested to see if they have antibodies.

"Tests that are coming online do show correlation between the ability to stop the virus and to have good antibodies. We're just going to have to learn, it's a new virus," says James Crawford, vice president of laboratory services at Northwell Health.

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