How many in California have had the coronavirus? Scientists are testing to find out

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story said researchers believed coronavirus was in California in 2019. The researcher who said that was not affiliated with the study.

Stanford Medicine researchers are testing people to find out how many Californians have had coronavirus, media outlets reported.

The study will account for the people who were infected but didn’t show symptoms or weren’t severely sick, according to The Mercury News. The test will show if they have antibodies that may mean they are “immune to future infection,” the outlet reported.

Stanford University tested 2,500 people last weekend, the outlet said.

“This is critical information,” Dr. Eran Bendavid, an infectious disease specialist and professor of medicine with Stanford Health Policy, told The Mercury News. “We will show the country what to do and how to do it.”

California Gov. Gavin Newsom called the study “the first home-grown serum test in the state of California,” according to The Mercury News.

Stanford also is testing “for antibodies to the virus in plasma, the liquid in blood, to provide information about a person’s immune response to an infection,” a Friday news release from Stanford Medicine says.

“Stanford experts are now determining who will receive the serology test, with health care workers and others in the hospital setting being prioritized. The team also wants to expand testing capacity,” the release says.

As of April 9, California had 541 deaths due to coronavirus.

This story was originally published April 8, 2020 at 10:38 AM with the headline "How many in California have had the coronavirus? Scientists are testing to find out."