According to a recently published study, a significant percentage of residents living in the New York metropolitan area have had COVID-19.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) partnered with commercial laboratories to find those who tested positive for the virus in 10 specific regions.
Regions included in the survey: Connecticut, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, southern Florida, Utah, and western Washington state.
The survey includes people who had blood samples tested for reasons other than COVID-19, such as a routine visit or illness during which commercial laboratories collected and analyzed blood in the participating areas of each of the 10 sites.
The survey found that nearly a quarter of New York City, Long Island and Westchester residents who had been screened by the CDC had the coronavirus.
Overall, about 23 percent in the metropolitan area that had blood drawn in late May had antibodies against COVID-19, according to the survey, which included the five boroughs, Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester.
The survey was the second of its kind from the CDC.
The first, which ended Sunday, May 3, found a citywide infection rate of 6.9 percent. The second survey was conducted between Thursday, May 21 and Tuesday, May 26.
A total of 1,116 samples were collected. The CDC said it plans to collect more than 1,800 samples from each region every three to four weeks as researchers look to see what percentage of people tested already have antibodies to the virus.
The results reported by the CDC have been adjusted for false positive and false negative results.
The CDC noted that it is possible that antibody levels will decrease over time and that people who previously tested positive for antibodies may eventually test negative.
The CDC also warned that the survey does not mean that people who tested positive for antibodies are immune to COVID-19.
“Additional analyzes are being conducted to assess how changes in seroprevalence estimates over time may be affected by collecting samples from somewhat different populations or geographic areas within each site, as well as random variation,” the researchers said. CDC.
“It’s also possible that antibody levels will decrease over time, and some people who previously had detectable antibodies (COVID19) no longer have evidence of antibodies from past infection.”
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