El Paso Health Department To Conduct House-To-House COVID-19 Survey

The COVID-19 pandemic requires a lot of information to be gathered by the El Paso Public Health Department, and in order to gather vital information about the city's degree of immunity, the department will be sending out employees to randomly selected homes throughout the city to conduct a survey.

If you don't want to participate you don't have to, but if you want to take part in the COVID-19 survey you will be asked to answer a series of questions and provide a blood sample from a finger stick, that will be tested for antibodies. The antibody test will only detect past infection, not if you are currently infected with COVID-19. Households will be selected randomly because it will help the Department of Public Health get a better handle on how the COVID-19 pandemic is moving through the city.

If after the antibody test it is discovered that you had COVID-19, you will be asked to donate plasma which can help those who are suffering from an active bout of the virus. Department of Public Health officials will be trying to conduct roughly 200 surveys on individuals per week for the next four weeks. El Pasoans of all ages can take part in the household survey except for newborns.

The survey doesn't take long to complete. It's about a 15 minute survey and all the information collected by the Department of Public Health will remain confidential. The teams who will be conducting the survey will have City badges. Members of the Texas Tech University Health Science Center will also be with the City teams and will also be identified by their badges.

This survey will only be conducted if you consent. You can decline to participate when they come to your door.