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In mid-November, the number of unreported cases of coronavirus infections will be surveyed again. At the same time, the first nationwide antibody study is beginning to examine the proportion of people with antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 in Austria. The science ministry announced Tuesday that it had commissioned the study.
The study is carried out by Statistics Austria in cooperation with the Red Cross and the Medical University of Vienna. In spring, these institutions conducted three random sample studies on behalf of the science department to collect the number of unreported cases, as well as an “experimental validation study” for antibody tests with a sample of people from risk areas. with a high percentage of positive corona tests.
The aim of the new study is “once again to improve the database so that we know where we are epidemiologically,” Science Minister Heinz Faßmann (ÖVP) said in a broadcast. Statistics Austria will randomly select about 5,000 people aged 16 and over from the Central Population Register for the representative sample. Starting tomorrow, Wednesday, you will receive an information letter by mail with the course of the study.
The first results will be available in mid-December
The multi-part Sars-CoV-2 tests, consisting of a PCR smear, a rapid antibody test, and a blood sample for the antibody test, will be performed by the Red Cross between November 12 and 14. . The first results are expected to be available in mid-December.
Participation in the study is voluntary, but you cannot actively register. Only the people who were selected for the representative random sample are analyzed. All results are processed and saved anonymously. Study participants will be informed of the results of their test.
In the first randomized study in early April (around 1,500 participants), up to 60,000 people infected with the Coroano virus Sars-CoV-2 were found in hospitals in addition to the sick. In the second such study (around 1,400 participants), the peak at the end of April was 11,000 people infected with Covid-19. In the third survey at the end of May, there was not a single Covid-19 infected among around 1,300 participants. Taking into account previous experience and EMS figures, the upper limit for unreported cases was estimated to be between 6,000 and 3,000 cases.
Antibody testing of nearly 300 people from 27 targeted communities with a high proportion of corona-positive tests as of the end of April showed that an average 4.71 percent had antibodies. Consequently, around 1,900 people out of the total 40,000 residents in these at-risk communities had suffered from a coronavirus infection in the weeks leading up to the investigation.
