<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/7/1595875731135.jpeg" alt="Mosaic Life Care CEO Dr. Mark Laney addresses a news conference as Buchanan County Presiding Commission Lee Sawyer looks on/Photo by Brent Martin" />
 <figcaption>Mosaic Life Care CEO Dr. Mark Laney addresses a news conference as Buchanan County Presiding Commission Lee Sawyer looks on/Photo by Brent Martin</figcaption>
 </figure>By BRENT MARTINSt. Joseph PostBuchanan County is allocating $250,000 in federal funds to
conduct a massive anti-body testing of county residents to aid in the fight
against COVID-19.The county is partnering with Mosaic Life Care in the hopes of
testing as many as 2,500 residents.Mosaic CEO Dr. Mark Laney says the St. Joseph hospital has
been able to handle the number of coronavirus cases coming its way.“On any given day, right now, there’s probably 200 to 225
patients in the hospital that don’t have COVID,” Laney tells reporters in a
Monday news conference. “Recently, we’ve had 10 patients, but it’s actually
dwindled down, I think we had six this morning and none in the ICU.”Mosaic and county officials hope the testing gives health
officials a better understanding of the spread of COVID-19 in the area, which
could lead to better strategies to combat the virus.Buchanan County Presiding Commissioner Lee Sawyer says the
county will allocate funds forwarded to the county from state officials. The
money comes from the CARES Act approved by Congress to respond to the economic
damage caused by the coronavirus pandemic as well as fund various local responses
to COVID-19.“Buchanan County is very excited to help to fund this process
as part of this CARES Act funding which came through the state actually from
the federal government, through the state, and we have been working very closely
with the state on just how we can spend this money to best impact, to keep our
county healthy and safe,” Sawyer says.Laney says anti-body testing isn’t done to determine
treatment.“It’s more of an answer relative to the public health,” Laney
says. “What degree of herd immunity do we as a county have, if any?”Testing through the drawing of blood will begin next week on
the Mosaic St. Joseph campus. Those interested can sign up through the Mosaic
web site. Registration is set to begin on Tuesday, July 28th, at <a href="http://www.MyMLC.com/testing">www.MyMLC.com/testing</a>.“This testing is only going to be available to individuals 12
years of age and above and we will not be doing testing on individuals that
have previously tested positive on the nasal swab, PCR test,” Laney says.As of Monday, Mosaic had tested 17,324 area
residents with 803 testing positive for COVID-19. Mosaic says six patients are
currently being treated at the St. Joseph hospital.

Massive anti-body COVID-19 testing to be conducted in Buchanan County