Workforce Serosurveillance to Track Long-term Modifications to COVID-19 Exposure Due to Factors in the Built Environment

The goal, with this study, is to leverage Northwell Health System's diverse workforce and robust testing structures, to contribute data-driven, evidence-based strategies to better understand the sustained prevalence of antibodies and how conferred immunity may be modified by environmental factors. The objective is to investigate the COVID-19/SARS-CoV-2 disease prevalence and trajectory over time, by conducting follow-up antibody testing on employees who consented to participate in research during the initial workforce offering. From 70,812 employees contacted, 46,117 were tested and received initial results. Of those participants, approximately, 32,000 agreed to be re-contacted, and 34,000 consented to research. The investigators plan to conduct an additional five rounds of testing that would sample individuals over a two-year period. This study is significant because it leverages Northwell Health's advanced laboratory systems to conduct serosurveillance of antibodies to COVID-19/SARS-CoV-2 across a large and diverse workforce, while taking into account the contextual environmental and occupational exposures that may modify continued immunity to the virus. Northwell Health's employee health services (EHS) is poised to act quickly to adapt policies and practices, where needed, to protect the workforce. The study is also innovative because it will be linking work environment and community measures with COVID-19 seropositive prevalence patterns over time, to build a better understanding of the disease and its controls at the population level. The expected outcomes include serial serology results as a measure of full or partial short-term (6 months) and long-term (2 year) immunity to re-infection and recognition of local environmental factors (e.g., building ventilation rates, zip code, air quality indicators) that could modify this immunity and assist with protecting the workforce and surrounding community. These results could inform national and global policies.