The survey analyzed blood samples from 21,387 people in Delhi. Among them, 23.48% were found to have Covid-19 antibodies, indicating previous exposure to the coronavirus.
The study, conducted by the National Center for Disease Control in India two weeks ago, suggests that actual infections in the city are much more widespread than the number of confirmed cases reflects.
As of Wednesday, Delhi had registered a total of 125,096 cases, representing less than 1% of its population of 16.78 million, according to the last census conducted in 2011.
However, the study result suggests that around 4 million Delhi residents could have been infected with the virus in the first week of July.
The coronavirus is still spreading rapidly in the country, with 37,724 new cases reported in the last 24 hours, with a total of more than 1.19 million cases, the third highest in the world after the United States and Brazil.
Delhi reported 1,349 new cases on Tuesday. At least 3,690 people have died from the coronavirus in the city.
In a press release, India’s health ministry said the study indicated that a large number of infected people remained asymptomatic.
“Almost six months after the epidemic, only 23.48% of people are affected in Delhi, which has several pockets of dense population,” the ministry said.
“This can be attributed to proactive efforts by the government to prevent the spread of the infection,” he said, citing containment measures such as immediate closure and tracing of contacts.
When India went into closure on March 25, Delhi had recorded only 606 Covid-19 cases and 10 deaths. But numbers began to rise after the city began easing blockade restrictions in the third week of May in a bid to revive its economy. As of June 8, she had more than 40,000 cases.
Other cities around the world have conducted similar antibody studies in the past, but the numbers in their results are much lower than Delhi’s 23.48%.
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