TIMESOFINDIA.COM | Last updated on – Jul 24, 2020, 12: 52 IST
01/81 in 4 people in Delhi may have been exposed to COVID-19
With 1,14,000 cases, Delhi is one of the worst affected cities by the COVID-19 in India. However, after a period of a rampant rise in the number of infections which pushed the healthcare system to the verge of collapse, Delhi might be on its road to recovery, with a slowdown in infection rates and a recovery rate which is over 80%. A lot of measures have been introduced by officials to curb the spread, including starting serosurveillance tests, which are to happen monthly going forward. A recent such survey found out it might be possible that a whopping 23.8%, roughly a quarter of Delhi’s population may have been already exposed to the deadly SARS-COV2 virus.
02/8Officials conduct serosurveillance tests across Delhi
A study was done by India’s National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) to test the level of antibodies in a sample population across the city where it was observed that 23.4% of those surveyed were detected with a high level of infection-fighting antibodies.
03/8Antibody tests are being conducted in Delhi
For the same, blood samples of 21,387 people were taken randomly and were tested for antibodies in the last week of June.
The test, seroprevalence test is a non-diagnostic tool which is used to check for any trace or past exposure to infection.
It was also observed that a large percentage among those tested were found to be asymptomatic.
04/8What does it mean?
If the findings are indeed true, it might show that the rate of infection is far higher than what official figures suggest. An asymptomatic rise in cases may also suggest that a large section of the population may have general immunity against the virus.
Another study done by a private diagnostic laboratory chain, Thyrocare, recently found out that 15% of India’s population may have developed antibodies pertaining to COVID-19. India is currently the third-worst affected nation by the pandemic.
05/8Does this data point evidence to herd immunity?
While the data reveals that the official figures may not be entirely correct, some experts believe that a high exposure rate, such as this, maybe evidence that the c