Only 0.73 pc of sample population was infected with COVID-19, says ICMR's sero-surveillance survey
Jun 11, 2020
New Delhi [India], June 11 : The sero-surveillance study conducted by Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) revealed that 0.73 per cent of the population surveyed has shown evidence of past exposure to COVID-19, said Dr Balram Bhargava, Director General of the country's apex medical research body, on Thursday.
The first sero-surveillance study was conducted by ICMR on COVID-19 in May in collaboration with state health departments, NCDC and WHO India, according to a release.
The study was conducted in 83 districts, covering 28,595 households and 26,400 individuals.
The two-part study aimed at primarily estimating the fraction of population, which has been infected with SARS-CoV-2 in the general population and this has been completed. The second part is for estimating the fraction of population which has been infected with SARS-CoV-2 in containment zones of hotspot cities is in the process of completion.
According to the ICMR survey, it has been calculated that compared to rural areas, the risk of spread is 1.09 times higher in urban areas and 1.89 times higher in urban slums. The infection fatality rate is very low at 0.08 per cent.
India currently has 1,37,448 active cases which are all under active medical supervision. At present, the number of patients recovered exceeds the number of active patients.
