Over 23% Delhiites have Covid antibodies

A sero-survey conducted in Delhi has shown the prevalence of Covid-19 antibodies in nearly 23 per cent of the population, even as the virus curve for the national capital is starting to see a declining trend, registering less than 1,000 cases on Tuesday.

The study was conducted by the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) between June 27 and July 1 across 11 districts and collected 21,387 samples. It also indicated that a large number of infected persons remain asymptomatic.

While the adjusted prevalence of antibodies is 22.86 per cent, some districts have shown a higher spread. For instance, in Central and Shahdara districts more than 27 per cent of the population was found affected.

Delhi, after seeing a daily rise of close to 3,900 in June, registered less than 954 cases on Tuesday.

The health ministry said in the first week of June, when Delhi was conducting an average of 9,500 tests per day, the positivity rate was 37 per cent. In July first week, the tests were increased to over 25,000 and the positivity rate has come down to 9 per cent.

Does the declining curve indicate that Delhi is past its peak? “We cannot say that yet because there is still a lot of population which is susceptible to the virus... the remaining 77 per cent are still vulnerable and the containment measures need to continue with the same rigour,” said S K Singh, director, NCDC.

India plans to increase its testing capacity to around 550,000 over the next two weeks and hopes to achieve the target of 1 million tests per day in the medium term. India is currently conducting 180 tests per day per million. It also plans to bring down the positivity to 5 per cent or lower, from around 8 per cent now.