Only 0.1% of people in Tokyo have antibodies against the new coronavirus, and the percentages in Osaka and Miyagi prefectures are also low, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry announced Tuesday.
The ministry conducted antibody tests on a total of 7,950 people in Tokyo, Osaka Prefecture and Miyagi Prefecture to ascertain the percentages of people who have been infected with the coronavirus.
The results showed that 0.1% of the people in Tokyo and 0.17% in Osaka Prefecture had been infected with the virus. This indicates that most people even in regions where infections were widespread do not have antibodies against the virus.
On the other hand, in Miyagi Prefecture, where the number of infected people has been low, the percentage was 0.03%.
Antibodies are produced to protect the body from viruses and other infecting agents. Tests can show whether a person has been infected with a specific disease.
The tests in Tokyo and Osaka and Miyagi prefectures were conducted on ordinary citizens from June 1 to 7. To obtain more accurate results, two kinds of reagents were used, and only people who were confirmed to be positive in both the reagents were judged to have the antibodies.
Medical institutions are now conducting PCR tests and antigen tests to diagnose whether patients are infected, but there is believed to be a large number of infected people with no symptoms or very mild symptoms in the case of the new coronavirus.
The ministry conducted the recent tests to gain detailed information about the state of infections.
It is not clearly known how long the detected antibodies will be effective in the body, or whether the antibodies can prevent people from being infected again.
The National Institute of Infectious Diseases will examine further details of the test results.
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