Maryland and Virginia are tapping local hospitals to conduct antibody studies to determine the reach of COVID-19 in hopes of getting a better understanding of how it’s spread and how to fight it.

On Thursday, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam announced the state’s health department is moving forward with a pediatric serology study in Northern Virginia. The state is teaming with Inova Health System to measure the proportion of residents age 19 and under that have COVID-19 antibodies. Antibodies are blood proteins that indicate someone had a previous infection.

The state said Northern Virginia was selected for the study because of the number of confirmed pediatric COVID-19 cases in the region, as well as its diverse population. Inova will recruit as many as 1,000 participants who live in Northern Virginia and seek care at Inova clinical sites. Blood samples will be taken and tested for COVID-19 antibodies.

The Virginia Department of Health will use data collected from the study to estimate…