1 in 15 exposed to Covid by Aug: Second survey

One in 15 people aged 10 years and above were exposed to Covid-19 by August with the prevalence of the infection estimated at 6.6% in this population, the second serological survey conducted by the Indian Council of Medical Research showed.

Sushmi Dey ,
TNN

Updated On Sep 30, 2020 at 04:43 AM IST

Sushmi.Dey

New Delhi: One in 15 people aged 10 years and above were exposed to Covid-19 by August with the prevalence of the infection estimated at 6.6% in this population, the second serological survey conducted by the Indian Council of Medical Research showed.

The survey found a significant increase in prevalence among adults at 7.1%, up from 0.7% till May in the first sero survey. The prevalence in urban slums was estimated at 15.6% and 8.2% in non-slums, while in rural areas it was lower at 4.4%, underlining that the disease burden is more in metros, cities and towns with high density of population and more economic activities.

Survey covered 29k people from 21 states

While the prevalence has risen, there is better news on the estimate of undetected infections per reported case. “The fact that there were 26-32 undetected infections (per reported case in August) against 81-130 in May shows the success of our testing and contact-tracing strategy. Lockdown, containment and behavioural change at population level have effectively checked the potential spread of SARSCov-2,” ICMR director general Balram Bhargava said.

Similar to the first one, the second survey was also conducted in over 29,000 individuals in 700 villages and wards in 70 districts of 21 states. The survey was conducted between August 17 and September 22. With prevalence of the infection rising since May, the government strongly emphasised that a large part of the population was still susceptible and urged people to adopt Covidappropriate behaviour like maintaining safe physical distance, wearing masks and following hand hygiene.

Bhargava shared data from other countries to show that India’s infection prevalence was on a par with countries such as the US with 9.3%, while Brazil has 2.8% and Spain 4.6%.

Sero surveys in cities showed Delhi having 23.5% and 29.1% prevalence in the first two surveys. Mumbai had a prevalence of 57.8% in slums and 17.4% in nonslums, Chennai 21.5%, Ahmedabad 17.6%, Puducherry 22.7% and Indore 7.8% prevalence.