New York Governor Andrew Cuomo on Wednesday said that antibodies testing in the state showed that frontline workers, including health care workers and police officers, have a lower COVID-19 infection rate than the general population — which he called "good news."

Cuomo said the testing indicated that in New York City, about 19.9% of the general population tested positive for antibodies.

During the same test, about 12% of downstate health care workers, about 10% of NYPD employees, and about 17% of FDNY employees tested positive.

He added that in a test of 2,700 New York state police, 3% were positive. In a test of 3,000 Department of Corrections employees, 7.5% were positive.

Why this is important: A positive test for COVID-19 antibodies may indicate the person was infected with coronavirus. A lower infection rate amongst frontline workers shows that the precautionary measures being taken by these essential workers are working, the governor said.

Source(s): CNN