1 in 5 New Yorkers might have had virus

NEW YORK — One of every five New York City residents tested positive for antibodies to the coronavirus, according to preliminary test results described by Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Thursday.

The results provided the prospect that many New Yorkers who never knew they had been infected — possibly as many as 2.7 million — had already encountered the virus and survived. Cuomo also suggested that the death rate was far lower than believed.

Accurate antibody testing is seen as a critical tool to help determine when and how to begin restarting the economy. State officials said their test could help send people back to work.

But the city’s top official for disease control, Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, wrote in an email alert Wednesday that the tests “may produce false negative or false positive results.”

“Given the current lack of evidence” that any blood test for antibodies is indicative of “durable immunity,” Daskalakis wrote, “it should not be used for that purpose.”

The alert went on to warn that the consequences of relying on potentially false results may lead to “providing patients incorrect guidance on preventive interventions like physical distancing or protective equipment.”

In New York City, about 21 percent, or 1 of every 5 residents, tested positive for coronavirus antibodies during the state survey. The rate was 16.7 percent in Long Island, 11.7 percent in Westchester and Rockland counties, and 3.6 percent in the rest of the state.

Almost 14 percent of those tested in New York were positive, according to preliminary results, which sampled about 3,000 people over two days at grocery and big-box stores.

The governor suggested Thursday that, based on the survey, the death rate in New York from COVID-19 would likely be far lower than previously believed, possibly 0.5 percent of those infected.

More than 15,000 people have died of the virus in the state, a figure that does not include an additional 5,000 people in New York City who were never tested but were presumed from the disease.

The number of deaths has been increasing less quickly, and new hospital admissions for the coronavirus have remained relatively flat over the past three days: about 1,350 patients per day, down from more than 2,000 per day last week.

Cuomo said antibody testing results, along with hospitalization numbers, would influence the state’s reopening strategy, noting that the number of people being hospitalized was still too high to consider easing restrictions. to have died