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Home : News
NEWS | Oct. 8, 2020

Indiana National Guard contributes to COVID-19 research

By Staff Sgt. Beth Houx Indiana National Guard

INDIANAPOLIS – Medical teams from the Indiana National Guard deployed across the state Oct. 2-6 to support the third round of COVID-19 testing in a continuing study of the pandemic.

Soldiers worked alongside the Indiana State Department of Health and Indiana University researchers by conducting nasal swabs to detect the active virus and blood draws to identify antibodies.

"Testing thousands of Hoosiers in a short timeframe is a huge undertaking that wouldn't be possible without the help of the Indiana National Guard," said Dr. Kristina Box, Indiana State Health commissioner. "We are grateful for the partnership so that we can gather data that will help researchers at the Fairbanks School of Public Health better understand the prevalence of COVID-19 in all Indiana populations."

Information gathered in each wave of the ongoing study supports the Richard M. Fairbanks School of Public Health research to more accurately assess infection, immune response and mortality rates. The study tests randomized Hoosiers across the state to accurately represent the Indiana population.