1 in 3 people have antibodies for COVID-19 in Delhi, shows new Sero-Survey

New Delhi, Aug 20: Nearly a third of Delhi's population has been exposed to Covid-19 and has antibodies to fight the fatal virus, the state government said on Thursday while giving details of the second serological survey in the capital.

The second round of the serological survey, conducted in the first week of August in Delhi has suggested that 29.1 per cent of the people tested have developed antibodies against the infected virus.

During the survey, a number of 15,000 samples were collected across 11 districts in Delhi to assess the spread of the virus, said Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain.

"The second serological survey which was conducted between 1-7 August shows that 29.1 per cent of people have developed antibodies against COVID19. A total of 15,000 samples were collected during the survey."

"Scientists say that herd immunity is when up to 40 per cent of the population has virus antibodies," Mr Jain also said. This means 58 lakh people in Delhi now have antibodies.

For this round, a sample size of 15,000 was taken.

The other two rounds of the serological survey are scheduled in the first weeks of September and October.

Notably, the previous serological survey showed that 23 per cent of the people tested had exposure to the coronavirus in the national capital.

The study was conducted from June 27 to July 10 by the NCDC in collaboration with the Delhi government and involved testing 21,387 samples.

A sero-survey involves testing of blood serum of individuals to check for the prevalence of antibodies against infection.