Almost a quarter of Delhi’s 28 million residents may have developed coronavirus antibodies, making it one of the worst-affected capital cities in the world, according to research.
A random sample of 20,000 residents by India’s National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) found 23.4% had antibodies to the virus. It appears that the majority were asymptomatic.
The coronavirus crisis hit Delhi hard last month, pushing the city’s healthcare system to the brink of collapse, and many died after hospitals ran out of beds and ventilators. Yet the rate of exposure found in the NCDC study is far higher than the city’s officially reported 123,747 cases, suggesting the spread of coronavirus in India may be far greater than the official statistics show.
India has the third highest number of cases in the world, 1.19m, which is rising by more than 40,000 a day.
The curve of infections is showing no sign of flattening and states across India, from Kerala to Kashmir, have reintroduced individual lockdowns and night-time curfews in an effort to control the spread of the virus.
According to results of a study released this week by one of the few private laboratories in India authorised to conduct antibody tests, an estimated 180 million Indians, nearly 15% of the population, may already have developed Covid-19 antibodies.