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AFP
The study estimates that around 5% of the Spanish population has developed antibodies.
A Spanish study has questioned the possibility of collective immunity as a way to tackle the coronavirus pandemic.
The study of more than 60,000 people estimates that around 5% of the Spanish population has developed antibodies, the medical journal The Lancet reported.
Collective immunity is achieved when enough people become infected with a virus to stop its spread.
About 70% to 90% of a population needs to be immune to protect the uninfected.
The prevalence of Covid-19 antibodies was less than 3% in coastal regions, but higher in areas of Spain with widespread outbreaks, according to the report.
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“Despite the high impact of Covid-19 in Spain, prevalence estimates remain low and are clearly insufficient to provide collective immunity,” the study authors said in the report.
“In this situation, measures of social distance and efforts to identify and isolate new cases and their contacts are essential for the future control of the epidemic.”
The study is believed to be the largest of its kind on the coronavirus in Europe.
Studies of a similar type have been conducted in China and the United States and “the key finding of these representative cohorts is that the majority of the population appears to have remained unexposed” to the coronavirus, “even in areas with widespread virus circulation”, The Lancet said. Article said.
What is the latest in Spain?
The country has registered more than a quarter of a million cases and at least 28,385 deaths. But daily deaths have been in individual numbers for most of the past three weeks.
However, officials in the northwest region of Galicia have again imposed restrictions on an area of 70,000 people after an outbreak.
Officials linked local outbreaks with bars in the area. The capacity in bars and restaurants has been limited to 50%.
There are now 258 cases of Covid-19 in Galicia, including 117 in the province of Lugo, authorities say.
On Saturday, the autonomous government of Catalonia again imposed controls on an area of 210,000 residents after a sharp increase in infections there.
Catalan President Quim Torra said that no one would be allowed to enter or leave Segrià, a district west of Barcelona that includes the city of Lleida.
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