COVID-19: 87 Million Were Likely Exposed to Coronavirus, 1 in 5 Had Antibodies
India had 87 million COVID-19 patients by the end of August, revealed key findings of the second round of sero-survey conducted by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).
ICMR Director-General Balram Bharghav said that one in 15 individuals was exposed to Covid-19 by August.
The second round of the sero-survey was conducted in the same manner as the first. A total of 700 villages and wards in 70 districts in 21 states of the country were randomly sampled between August 17 and September 22 for the second round of the survey.
‘ICMR Director-General Balram Bharghav said that one in 15 individuals was exposed to COVID-19 by August.’
Survey Findings
- The national prevalence was found to be 6.6 percent.
- A multifold increase from the first round when 0.73 percent of the population was exposed to SARS-CoV-2.
- 7.1 percent showed evidence of past coronavirus exposure.
- Urban slums and non-slum areas had higher COVID-19 infection prevalence than the rural areas.
"The virus was found to be 26-32 infections per reported case by August (81-130 in May), underlining the effect of scaled up testing, tracking and treating strategy," the findings showed.
Source: Medindia