COVID-19 antibody testing underway on remote Cormorant Island, off north Vancouver Island

Health officials are now hoping to learn more about how far the coronavirushasspread on remote Cormorant Island, off northern Vancouver Island, and this week they are offering antibody testing to all residents.

At least 30 people in Alert Bay, B.C., the 'NamgisFirstNation, and other parts of the island represented by the Whe-la-la-u Area Council contracted the virus.

• One 'NamgisFirst Nation member died

Dr. Charmaine Enns, the medical health officer for Island Health, said the blood testwill check for the presence of antibodies. The analysiswill be doneby the B.C. Centre for Disease Control.

"Anyone who is 12 years of age or older and is a permanent resident of Cormorant Island can come on down to the rec centre and have a blood test," Enns said.

Test results will be completed within two weeks.

Enns said antibodies are created by a personwhen they are infected with a virus.

"If you have antibodies, that means you were infected. We suspect there's a fairly large proportion of the population that have been infected and were mildly sick and didn't realize," she said.

"This is an amazing opportunity for a community that experienced COVID to better understand the extent of the virus through their population."

Cormorant Island, which can only be accessed by boat or plane, was shut down once COVID-19 was detected.

"This community is ideal to be able to look at what actually happened in a community that is so defined in geography and the population to understand better how [the virus] transmitted," she said.

Enns said while the results of the tests will be private, there will be a broader analysis with anonymized datato help the community understand better what happened during its outbreak.

She said there aren't further plans to do this kind of antibody testing on this scale in other B.C. communities at this point.

"This is a very specific response to a very specific request from the community that experienced COVID to be able to look at the antibody testing," she said.

Listen to the interview with Dr. Charmaine Enns on CBC's All Points West: