WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Wake Forest Baptist Health is partnering with a leading clinical research organization to conduct a community-based research study of the coronavirus.

Principal investigator of the study, Dr. John Sanders, said the goal of the community-based COVID-19 research study is to help the medical community better understand the pandemic and regional infection patterns.

Sanders said volunteers will receive at-home rapid diagnostic kits and will report their results on a daily basis.

“We view this study as part of a call for action, an ability to help track disease together, and we are hoping to have 500,000 to 700,000 of our patrons enroll in this study over the next four to six weeks,” Sanders said.

He explained this is not a viral test, it's an antibody test to determine if a person has had COVID-19 or has the proper antibodies to fight off the virus.

Sanders said they hope to start receiving impactful results by mid-May.