Nearly one third of Chennai population exposed to Covid-19: Serosurvey


Chennai: The results of the second serosurvey conducted in Chennai to detect the transmission of Coronavirus have shown an overall positivity rate of 32.3 per cent.

This was more than the number of those found affected by the virus during the first survey conducted in July.

In a statement, the Greater Chennai Corporation said, “results of Chennai Serosurvey-II: Serosurvey samples tested- 6,389 out of which 2,062 are positive for IgG antibodies presence with overall positivity of 32.3 per cent.”

The first phase of the survey, with a sample size of around 12,000, had revealed during the first week of Septmber that a fifth of the population (21.5 per cent) in the city had an exposure to the pandemic.

The ICMR is conducting its own serosurveillance across the country in which samples from Tamilnadu are also tested. Considered the gold standard to measure recent or past exposure to infectious diseases, sero surveillance study is conducted to ascertain the antibody levels produced against the infection by testing blood (serum or plasma) samples.