- [Gordon] Coronavirus recovery,

how antibodies may be thekey to helping others,

CBN medical reporter, LorieJohnson, joins us with more.

Plus, her friend was a predator.

- His online profile wasbroadcasted on the nightly news.

- [Gordon] And she was his prey.

- [Heather] No matter where Iwent, I would not feel safe.

- See how she found refuge ontoday's 700 Club Interactive.

Well, welcome to the show.

Nearly 75,000 Americans havefully recovered from COVID-19.

Now it appears they can help others

who are dealing with the virus.

As Lorie Johnson reports,these survivors have something

that could potentially killthe enemy that's threatening

the lives of hundreds ofthousands of Americans.

- Many people who haverecovered from COVID-19

feel as if they have a new lease on life

and are giving that gift to others.

The gift, their blood,potentially loaded with antibodies

specifically designed todestroy the COVID-19 virus.

- You know, we have an immune system

that was able to fightthis off on our own,

and that's really, really, powerful.

- [Lorie] Washington stateresident, Elizabeth Schneider,

tested positive forCOVID-19 back in February.

Her body produced antibodiesthat got rid of the virus

and still remain in her system.

- Whatever is in my plasmaand is in my white blood cells

is extremely useful, both for research

but also as a therapy for other people.

- [Lorie] That's whyshe's one of thousands

of recovered coronaviruspatients donating blood.

- Each donation that goesfor direct transfusion

can probably treat three or four people.

The protocol from theNIH allows us to collect

our COVID recovered donorsonce a week for up to 20 weeks.

- [Lorie] In Fort Worth,Texas, lung specialist,

Dr. John Burk, gave aconvalescent plasma infusion

to his patient whose immunesystem had not likely produced

enough antibodies to deal with the virus.

- Patients in need whomight be on a ventilator

or about to be on a ventilatormight be the best candidates

to get a little boost in immunity.

- [Lorie] Although Chinesedoctors report 15 patients

who received convalescentplasma were cured,

here in America studiesare still underway.

Meanwhile, doctors can treat patients

on a compassionate use basis.

- It could make a world of difference.

It could be substantially, thetruth is we don't yet know.

It is an unproven, experimental treatment.

- [Lorie] In Columbus,Ohio, emergency room doctor,

Howard Warmen, recovered from the virus

and donated his blood,

which has been given tocritically ill patients there.

University of Chicagodoctors are also testing

convalescent plasma on their patients.

- They get a transfusion,

a single transfusion of the plasma,

and then we measure what happens.

- [Lorie] They say ideally

donors should wait a monthafter getting better.

- The amount of antibodythat's against the virus

will have peaked at 28 days.

- While doctors can't say for sure

whether convalescent plasmaworks on COVID-19 patients,

similar treatments proved successful

against the Spanish flu,

and other coronaviruseslike SARS and MERS.

If you were diagnosed with COVID-19,

have fully recovered,and would like to help,

contact your nearest bloodbank, such as the Red Cross.

Lorie Johnson, CBN News.

- Well, CBN News medicalreporter, Lorie Johnson,

joins us now, and tell us,

how long do the antibodiesremain in a person's blood?

- Well, for COVID-19,scientists just don't know yet,

which is such afrustrating answer, I know,

because we live in the age of information.

And we're used to getting ourquestions answered instantly

just by going to Google.

But what we do know is someantibodies, for certain viruses,

stay in our system for a lifetime,viruses like chicken pox.

But when you compare thisvirus to other coronaviruses,

we know there are six other coronaviruses,

four of them are part of the common cold,

and those antibodies stay in our system

for only about six months.

Then there are two other coronavirus,

SARS, those antibodies stay in our system

for about two years, andMERS, three years, Gordon.

- All right, well, can a personwhose never been infected

by COVID-19 get theantibodies as a protection?

- Right, so this is sort oflike a prophylactic measure

or a preventive measure,

and the answer to thequestion is possibly.

A lot of people, particularlyhealthcare workers,

are wondering if they gotthe convalescent plasma,

if that would protectthem from getting it.

We know that this is a very new,

this has only beentested in the last month.

The first patient just started receiving

the convalescent plasmaabout tree week ago,

at the end of March.

And now about 600 COVID-19 patients,

are getting the convalescent plasma,

200 have been approved to get it,

and we're talking about1,600 healthcare facilities.

What happens is the plasmais infused into a patient

and the plasma is the part of the blood

that's yellow and liquidy,that's where the antibodies are,

and it's only one infusion.

And they give them about 200 milliliters,

which is about 3/4 of a cup.

And the results aren't available yet,

but so far researcherssay that in some patients,

they have improved.

So whether this translatesto almost like a vaccine

to prevent people from gettingit as a stop-gap measure

until a vaccine is readyin a year, year and a half,

even maybe even two years,that remains to be seen.

- Lorie, I've heard somepeople talk about having the,

that have had the virus,

having it longer than that two-week period

that was talked about.

We've been hearing a lotabout antibody tests.

Aren't they used todetermine whether a person

is well and can go back to work?

- Yes. I wanna take an antibodytest because this is the,

and its a little confusing,because we're talking,

we go back and forthtalking about testing.

There's one test to determine

whether you have COVID-19 right now.

The antibody test, which iswhat we're talking about now,

this is the test to determinewhether you ever had it.

The antibodies willstill be in your system,

and presumably you're immune.

So yes, if you test positivefor COVID-19 antibodies,

the thought is you're immuneand you can go back to work

and roam around freely,because if you're immune

you can't get it from anyone,

and you can't give it to anyone.

So, Vice President Pence says

that there are four antibody tests

that have been approved by the FDA.

And the production is sothat they're producing

about 20 million a month.

Right now those antibody tests

are going to peoplewho need them the most.

And, of course, we're talkingabout healthcare workers,

especially people whowork at nursing homes,

because we need to know ifthese people are immune.

So, rapidly they'll startdiffusing within our society,

and we can all hopefully get them.

- And so are the results known immediately

when they take these tests?

Because there was some discussion also

about the fact that you,

it wasn't a matter ofnot having enough tests,

it was a matter of taking the test

and then having to wait asignificant period of time

to get the results.

- I'm really glad you brought that up,

because there have been alot of scammers out there.

So, there have only been four tests

that have been approved by the FDA.

And if you want to get atest, go through your doctor.

There are a lot of themavailable on the Internet,

and those are not reliable.

So that's something tobe on the lookout for.

But as far as the procedure,it's really wonderful.

You just prick your fingerand just one drop of blood,

and they can test injust one drop of blood

whether you have the antibodies.

- How long does the testtake to get results?

- Only about 15 minutes.

Now, these are the good ones,

the new ones that have just been developed

that the White House coronavirustask force is recommending.

- Do you see a day coming

where we're going to actuallyseparate the population

based on you are good with antibodies,

so now you can go out andconduct business as usual,

you can go wherever you wanna go,

and those that don'thave that positive test

still have to remain sheltered in place?

- Well, that's a great idea,

the only problem thereis we need more tests.

We have 350 million peoplein the United States,

its pretty hard to test everyone.

Although, given time,we'll have enough tests.

You think about other types of tests

that we have for the flu and what-not.

Right now, Gordon, what soexciting is they're testing

populations randomly tosee what the penetration

of the virus is.

For example, in Los Angeles,researchers from USC

and the CaliforniaDepartment of Public Health

tested 1,000 peoplerandomly in Los Angeles.

They got a random sample of people

and they tested themwith the antibody test

and they found out 4% tested positive.

Now, in Los Angeles, 4% of thepopulation is 300,000 people,

so we can assume that about 300,000 people

are positive for coronavirus,

yet only 8,000 have officiallybeen tested positive.

Right now in New York state,Governor Cuomo is working

with the New York Public Health Department

and they're randomlytesting 3,000 New Yorkers

to see what the level of penetration,

how many people test positive for it.

And they can sort ofconflate those numbers

to give us an idea of howmuch of the general population

has been infected with COVID-19.

- But isn't there a realnegative downside to that?

If you're asymptomatic, you'realso a carrier of the virus.

And so that means thereare 300,000 people in LA

who can infect five other people.

So you're looking at anincrease of the pandemic

as opposed to a decrease.

- Absolutely.

It's 100% a double-edged sword.

So you have people who have recovered,

who are, we believe, to be immune

roaming around hundreds of thousands.

But also, yes, theyestimate between 25 and 50%

of people who do get thisvirus are asymptomatic.

This is what we've been saying all along.

We need to pretend like everyonewe come into contact with

has it, because younever know, they could.

- All right.

Well, CBN News has launched a new webpage

dedicated to keeping you up to date

with the latest informationon combating the coronavirus.

For a free downloadable fact sheet

and all the latest updates,

all you have to do is goto cbnnews.com/coronavirus.

- Fascinating.

- [Gordon] Yes, and discouragingall at the same time.

- Not in a good way, not in a good way.

- It's one of those, howdo we get out of this?

And it's, until we get these tests,

and we can actuallydetermine the extent of it.

But then the other side of it,

we don't know the actual effect

of the disease on individuals.- Or the treatments.

- I'm hearing of allthese problems of people

who have recovered havelingering health issues

because of the virus.

- Yeah.

- The bottom line for me

is you don't wanna everbe near this thing.

And so how do youeffectively protect yourself?

- One day at a time, I guess.

- I'm gonna stay away.

I'll stay away.

(both laughing)

I'll move this way.

- Up next, this school year ended suddenly

for the class of 2020.

They also missed out on rights of passage.

(inspiring music)

- Then they went, okay,

school's canceled forthe rest of the year.

No prom, no graduation.

Sorry.

- [Terry] How one high school senior

is dealing with disappointment,right after this.

- Most of us remember our high school prom

and graduation ceremonies.

Well, the class of 2020will have different memories

after COVID-19 halted the last few weeks

of their school year.

Eric Philips spoke with onedisappointed high school senior.

Take a look.

- Some things like highschool graduation and prom

are seen as rights ofpassage and accomplishment.

Sadly, many of those in the class of 2020

will be stripped of thatthrough no fault of their own.

- I love school, and I miss it so much.

I miss seeing my friends.

- [Eric] 18-year-old KenyaMorris was all smiles

on day one of her senior year

at Caroline High School in Virginia.

Little did she or anyone else know,

an international crisiswould cut it short.

She was blindsided by the news in March.

- I was crying for at least two hours

'cause in the back of my headI was kind of just hoping

that this isn't true, thatthis is gonna go away,

it's gonna be fine.

I'm still gonna have a prom,

I'm still gonna have my graduation.

It'll go away by April.

It's gonna be fine.

But then they went, okay,

school's canceled forthe rest of the year.

No prom, no graduation, sorry.

And though this issomething that's completely

out of our control, itwas still like, dang it.

- [Eric] It's bittersweet,

as she and her family lookat her senior portrait

and pictures of hertrying on her prom dress.

Even the cap and gownthat arrived in the mail.

- I wanted my prom to celebrate that, hey,

this is my last year here.

You've been working so hardfor a little over a decade

trying to get to this point

and all of a sudden it'sjust taken from you.

- [Eric] Through testing,school officials determined

Kenya was developmentally delayed

when she was four or five years old.

Yet, by the seventh grade,she had worked through it,

going on to thrive academically,and even becoming president

of her high school's NationalHonor Society chapter.

- I wanted my graduation tobe like, I did it, I did it.

Look at this, I did it.

I've proven to myself andothers I can do it, so can you.

- I hate seeing their disappointment.

That's hard, as a mom, as a parent.

That's really hard for me.

- [Eric] It's disappointing on all sides.

- My oldest was homeschooled,

and so I didn't get to seeher walk across the stage.

So Kenya was gonna beour first one to walk

across the stage, get thediploma, and I was so excited.

- [Eric] According toCaroline High's website,

school officials hope toreschedule both events

before the fall.

- It's a very limited amount of time

to get in a prom and a graduation.

I hope they can do it, I do.

- I didn't work this hard for nothing.

- Though the currentsituation is disappointing,

Kenya is still determined.

She plans to attend VirginiaCommonwealth University

in the fall to study neonatal nursing.

Eric Philips, CBN News.

- Aw, all the best to Kenya.

And what a disappointment,

here you are head of the Honor Society,

you're looking forward to your prom,

you're looking forward towalking in the graduation,

you're looking forward tothese monuments in your life,

and hear disappointment,you can't have it.

I'm not trying to be a prophetof doom, but I do wonder,

are the universities forthe incoming freshman

going to be open?

Then you start dealingwith college graduations

and all the graduateschools and all of that,

and that these are eventsthat should be celebrated.

But now how do we do it,and how do we do it safely?

If you know someone who'sgraduating from high school

or college, please make note.

- Make it a big deal.

- It's time to go above and beyond.

You can't depend on thenormal things that we do,

so how can we think of others?

And just to hear her words loud and clear,

I've worked too hard.

Just listen, that is something coming

from a high school seniorwho has worked very hard,

and needs to becongratulated for that work.

- Press on, Kenya.

- Still to come, heronline boyfriend is busted.

And her picture popsup on the nightly news.

(inspiring music)

- [Girl] I felt liketalking to him was a rush

because it was a secret.

I saw the red flags on multiple occasions

and I ignored them.

- [Gordon] How did a 12-year-oldgirl become an easy target?

That's coming up, so stay with us.

- At 12 years old,

Heather English found an online boyfriend.

She felt a rush keepingtheir relationship a secret.

And then one evening,

her secret blew up on the nightly news.

- His online profile wasbroadcasted on the nightly news

saying that he was arrested

for intent of prostitution of a minor.

And my picture popped upas one of the profiles

on his top eight friends on Myspace.

And that's how I foundout he was arrested.

- [Narrator] That man wasno stranger to Heather.

For months, they had been developing

a close friendship online.

Heather had been an easy target.

At 12 years old, she justneeded someone to listen

to things she couldn't tell her parents.

- I felt like talking to him was a rush

because it was a secret.

I saw the red flags on multipleoccasions and I ignored them

because it's not what I wanted to believe.

I could talk to him about school,

I could talk to him about family.

He was just this unbiasedperson that I could bring in.

And he was kind, he wassomebody I could confide in.

I enjoyed talking to him.

- [Narrator] But news of his arrest

left Heather feelingafraid and out of control.

- I didn't know if he was in jail,

I didn't know if he was out on bond,

I didn't know when his trial was.

I knew he lived in my town.

I knew that he liked me.

And I was very afraid of being raped.

- [Narrator] Soon she discovered something

that helped her deal with her fears.

- I was so anxious andafraid that I wasn't hungry.

And I remember thinking like,

oh, this is a great distraction.

So I would start calculating, like,

how long I could go without eating,

and how long I could go untilI would let myself eat again.

- [Narrator] Then shefound another way to cope.

- I felt powerful in a sense,

like I had control over my body.

And then just she overwhelming relief

that came with cutting,the release on tension.

- [Narrator] But it wouldn't end there.

Heather was in her sophomoreyear of high school

when 11 friends and family members

died in the span of eight months.

Three by suicide.

- I felt more out of controlhaving people being ripped away

from me, people dying too young.

I started cutting a lot more.

A lot deeper.

- [Narrator] Heatherstarted seeing a counselor,

but still blamed herself

for everything going wrong around her.

- I was still cutting, binging,

purging, fasting, over-exercising.

I was punishing myself forthe mistakes that I had made.

It distracted me fromthe sadness that I felt.

But probably more than anything,it helped with my anxiety.

- [Narrator] Hoping a changeof scenery would help,

Heather went to collegea few hours from home.

- [Heather] I felt unsafein a different sense

and at that point I realizedno matter where I went,

I would not feel safe.

In college, if anythingcould get worse it did.

- [Narrator] She had unrestrained freedom

to cut, binge, and purge.

And had to withdrawafter only one semester.

- I felt like there was nothingleft that even the world

could offer me and I wasnot going to get better.

- [Narrator] Doctors tried everything,

including electroconvulsive therapy,

also known as shock treatment.

But she always fell back intoher self-destructive patterns,

feeling the weight of beingcalled a hopeless case.

- I still carried alot of guilt and shame.

And I still felt like I wasstill partially at fault.

I had been in patient treatment six times.

I had done intensive outpatient twice.

I had been through multiple counselors,

nutritionists, psychiatrists.

I was on 12 differentpsychiatric prescriptions a day.

I didn't feel like a person anymore.

I couldn't go to school, I couldn't work.

I couldn't leave the house,I'd have a panic attack.

- [Narrator] AfterHeather moved back home,

her dad encouraged her togo to Mercy Multiplied,

a Christian rehab center.

He had tried two years before,

but Heather didn't think it was for her.

Although I believed in God,I wasn't a follower of Him.

I felt like I was too bad of a person

to be called a Christian.

- [Narrator] Now, at 20, havingexhausted all other options,

she decided to go.

For the first time, Heatherfelt there was hope.

- The staff was amazing, very friendly,

just genuinely happypeople who wanted to help.

It wasn't just a job to them,

they actually wanted to help me.

And they wanted to help change my life.

- [Narrator] The counselors encouraged her

to read the Bible and pray.

The more Heather learned of God's love,

the more she surrenderedcontrol of her life to Him.

It was a roommate who helpedher take the final step.

- And she held my hand,

and I asked God to come into my life.

And I said I wanted tolive my life for Him.

I literally felt like I had taken

a whole layer of myself away,

and became a new person at that point.

And even though I knew mywalk wasn't gonna be perfect

from there on out, I knew Iwas going to be different.

(inspiring music)

- [Narrator] As Heathercontinued her therapy

and counseling, she started to see herself

through God's eyes.

- I wasn't a bad person.

God didn't look down on me,and He wasn't disappointed,

and that all I had todo was accept His help

and that I could change.

I had to believe thatI could actually change

instead of being labeled the hopeless case

that I had been for so many years before.

- [Narrator] By the end of her stay,

Heather had been healedof her fears and anxiety.

And she hasn't cutherself of binged since.

Now Heather is married and back in college

pursuing a nursing degree.

And she says her scars are reminders

that God's love can overcome any problem.

- Even when you're labeled ahopeless case, there is hope,

and that hope lies with God.

If you let God into your heart,

you can overcome any struggle.

- There is no hopeless case with God.

Doesn't exist, becauseHis mercy and His grace

and His power are available

to anyone who calls upon His name.

That's what His Word says,

and He left that Word as alove letter to you and to me,

so me so that we wouldunderstand who He was,

who we were without Himand who we were with Him.

You know, there's somethingin us when things are wrong

that makes us feel likewe have to fix everything,

like we have to control it,

we have to have to have the answers,

we have to get everything in order.

And then when we can't dothat, we feel so inadequate.

If we've made really poorchoices, we feel shame.

There's nothing like shame to separate you

from the love of God.

It's the voice of the enemy telling you

that you're not worthy,that He doesn't love you,

that you've gone toofar, you can't come back,

God's love can't reach you there.

That's not what theword of God says at all.

There's also a place inScripture where it says,

"Who's word will you believe?"

And the response is, "I willbelieve the word of the Lord."

Don't let those voices in your head

or in the hollowness of your heart

define who you are when whensomeone has already clearly,

someone who's created you clearly said,

I love you with an everlasting love.

In the Word, God saysplease let Me help you.

So stop trying to do ityourself, because none of us,

none of us are capable of doing that.

We just celebrated recently the death

and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

And that is what is our hope.

That is what is our salvation.

That resurrection momentwas for you and for me.

The shame gets blasted away from us.

We get labeled as His children then.

Now, Heather said an interesting thing.

She said I knew of Him, butI wasn't a follower of His.

Maybe that's you today,maybe you know of Him,

but you haven't made that commitment

she said she did when shesaid, Jesus come into my life.

I want to be Yours, Iwant to live for You,

I want You to live in me.

That is what makes you afollower of Jesus Christ.

If you've never prayed that prayer,

don't live and wallow inhopelessness and in shame,

because the same thing that Heather found,

is available to you.

And it begins with thatprayer that she made.

Let that be so for you,if you'd like to pray

with someone today, wehave people standing by

who are there just to take your call.

1-800-700-7000, it's toll-free.

Here's a word from theWord of God for you today.

"But the Lord is faithful,who will establish you

"and guard you from the evil one."

God bless you.

(inspiring music)