Krishna district Collector A.Md. Imtiaz has said that 20% of the population in the district and 40% in Vijayawada may have already contracted COVID-19 without the affected persons actually knowing about it according to the results of the sero surveillance, a scientific study to estimate the presence of antibody levels among citizens who aren’t tested so far.
As part of the study, Mr. Imtiaz said that 3,750 samples across the city and district were tested and the results suggested that a total of 20% of the population in the district and 40% in the city had contracted the virus and recovered without showing any symptoms.
He said that people in Ranigari Thota, Kothapeta, Wynchpet and other areas in the city and district were selected as per the study format and tested. Only those who had antibodies more than 10 units were considered having contracted the virus.
“This study doesn’t mean that we have achieved herd immunity, but is a positive sign as most people developed antibodies. The district has lowest number of cases in the district now. However, people still have to follow social distancing measures to keep COVID at bay until a vaccine is found,” Mr. Imtiaz said in a video message.
The district’s COVID tally stands at 13,875 with 142 new cases reported in the last one day. The death toll is 246 and death rate is 1.77%. The first case in the city was reported on March 23 when a foriegn returnee tested positive.
