FAYETTEVILLE LAB to test for coronavirus antibodies.

People who test positive for covid-19 antibodies may then choose to donate their plasma.

FAYETTEVILLE — A lab plans to test people for covid-19 antibodies that may be used to treat people who are sick with the virus, according to a news release.

Namida Lab on East Mission Boulevard is striving to begin the tests within the next few weeks, Jen Morio, business officer manager, said Wednesday. The testing initially will only be available to health care workers and employees from some large employers.

People who test positive for covid-19 antibodies may then choose to donate their plasma.

Health officials, including Dr. Nate Smith, the state’s health secretary, have said plasma from recovered covid-19 patients’ plasma may contain antibodies that can be used to help other patients.

People don’t need to have been tested for covid-19 to receive an antibody test at Namida, Morio said. Some people may have had covid-19 without showing symptoms or being tested. The lab may test up to 3,000 blood samples a day, Morio said.

“As our communities look for a path to reopening, antibody testing will help us understand actual infection rates and allow individuals and businesses to make informed decisions based on that information,” Omid Moghadam, chief executive officer at Namida Lab, said in a news release.

Namida Lab is a private lab in operation for about a year, Morio said. It has about 10 employees.

People who are eligible and wish to be tested for the antibodies at Namida will need to contact their employer and give blood where their employers direct them to do so, Morio said. Health care workers may generally give blood where they work.

How much the tests will cost and who will pay for

them is yet to be determined, Morio said. The plan is for Namida to invoice employers instead of individuals.

The federal Food and Drug Administration hasn’t yet approved covid-19 convalescent plasma as a treatment, but has called it “promising,” according to the administration’s website. The plasma is being regulated as an investigational product.

Northwest Medical Center-Springdale released Mirna Marquez, 48, of Hindsville eariler this month after she spent two weeks in the hospital with covid-19. Marquez was on a ventilator. Dr. Stephen Hennigan, who treated Marquez, said she began showing signs of recovery a day or two after receiving a transfusion of plasma from a recovered patient who donated in Little Rock.

Alex Golden can be reached by email at agolden@nwadg.com or on Twitter @NWAalexgolden.