Mohegans, Yale collaborate on COVID-19 antibody testing project

Study seeks to determine how many had disease

Mohegan — In the last couple of weeks, researchers from the Yale School of Medicine have been drawing blood from Mohegan Sun employees and others here in a bid to document the prevalence of antibodies that form in those who’ve been exposed to the virus that causes COVID-19.

Rather than focus on who has the disease, the seroprevalence study seeks to determine who — and precisely how many — have had it.

“We’ve been somewhat in the dark about that, especially in Connecticut,

where we had a lot of cases before (COVID-19) testing was widely available,” said Dr. Carrie Redlich, the Yale professor who’s heading the study. “There have been a lot of false negatives and an inability for some people to get tested. We just don’t know how many have had it.”

Data suggest rates of prevalence in the general population as high as 50% and as low as 3%, she said.

The presence of COVID-19 antibodies is believed to provide immunity or protection against contracting the disease in the future, though it’s unclear how long that protection lasts. Research into antibodies also is important in the development of vaccines.

It made sense to test for COVID-19 antibodies among Mohegan Sun employees — the testing also was available to Mohegan tribal government employees and those working for

“We think most of the spread of the disease happened before we closed, during our furloughs. Still, so much is unknown. Our advice to team members, even if they have the antibodies, is going to be don’t change what you’re doing. You still have to protect yourself.”

JEFF HAMILTON, MOHEGAN SUN PRESIDENT

the Mohegan Holding Co., the tribe’s nongaming business arm — rather than administer the PCR tests that detect current infections, Redlich said.

Problems associated with the PCR test, she noted, include its availability and its accuracy.

“It just tells you a point in time,” Redlich said. “A negative result can provide you with false reassurance.”

Connie Hilbert, executive director of Health & Human Services for the Mohegan Tribe, said “operationalizing” a PCR testing program would have been irresponsible, given the societal need to prioritize limited supplies of the necessary equipment. PCR testing, which can require swabs, chemical substances and vials, needs to be reserved for health care workers, first responders and those who exhibit COVID-19 symptoms, she said.

Redlich’s team drew blood over three days last week and three days this week, through Wednesday. All told, about 900 volunteers were expected to provide samples, a response Hilbert called “overwhelming.”

Redlich said it normally would take many weeks to test a group of that size, as it did this spring when Yale conducted antibody testing of hundreds of health care workers and COVID-19 patients at Yale New Haven Hospital. Results of that program are being prepared for publication, she said.

The blood samples provided by the Mohegan participants are being tested at Yale New Haven, which will report a summary of the results to the tribe and to the state. Participants who test positive for the presence of COVID-19 antibodies will be notified by phone. Individual results will not be disclosed to employers.

“People should share results with their doctor,” Redlich said. “What we want them to know is that a positive result doesn’t free them from wearing a mask. It doesn’t mean an employer can give you a more dangerous job.”

Jeff Hamilton, Mohegan Sun’s president and general manager, commented on the COVID-19 antibody testing while dealing with fallout from Tuesday’s news that three Mohegan Sun workers had tested positive for COVID-19 in early July. The first employee to test positive has been discharged from the hospital and is expected to soon return to work. The other two quarantined for 14 days and are back on the job.

Hamilton said the casino’s coronavirus protocols — contact tracing, mask wearing, social distancing and hygiene — contained the disease.

Among casino employees, interest in what the seroprevalence study finds is high, Hamilton said, but he doesn’t expect the results to have much impact on the way the casino operates. He said many employees who experienced flu-like symptoms in January, February and early March, before the casino shut down, suspected they may have had COVID-19 and recovered from it. If so, they should have the antibodies to prove it, he said. The casino partially reopened to the public June 1.

“We think most of the spread of the disease happened before we closed, during our furloughs,” he said. “Still, so much is unknown. Our advice to team members, even if they have the antibodies, is going to be don’t change what you’re doing. You still have to protect yourself.”

Hamilton estimated that more than 85% of those who took part in the antibody testing program are Mohegan Sun employees.

Chuck Bunnell, the tribe’s chief of staff, said the tribe is providing more than $500,000 of its own money for the seroprevalence study, as well as some grant support and federal COVID-19 funding. If not for the pandemic, Hilbert said, some of the resources would have been devoted to the new health center the tribe is building on its reservation in a partnership with Yale New Haven Health. Construction temporarily has been halted.

Next week, the antibody testing will be made available to tribal members.