71% of UP Locals Have Covid Antibodies, Kerala Least Exposed; Sero Survey Shows Unvaccinated at Risk

Amid concern over the third wave in the country, Covid-19 antibodies were found in about 71 percent of the population in Uttar Pradesh. According to Indian Council of Medical Research’s (ICMR), antibodies against Coronavirus were found in people who have taken both doses of Covid-19 vaccine.

A report in Hindustan Times said people who have not received a single dose of the vaccine were found to have lower antibodies. The sero suvery conducted in the last 10 days of June and the first week of July covered around 29,000 people including children over the age of six across the country.

The survey, which covered 70 districts across 21 states, showed that 67.6 percent of the samples had antibodies against the coronavirus. The data came from the fourth sero suvery conducted across the country, the last sero suvery was conducted in December and January 2021.

According to the report, Kerala was least exposed to coronavirus as only 45 percent of the population in the southern state is projected to have been infected till early July, while Assam was at 50 percent and Maharashtra 58 percent.

States with highest exposure includes Madhya Pradesh at 79 percent, Rajasthan 76.2 percent and Bihar at 75.9 percent.

Meanwhile, in Uttar Pradesh 70,000 people were part of the sero survey. A large number of people were infected in the state in April and May this year. Out of 70,000, over 62,000 people were tested and high level of antibodies were found in them.

Earlier in September last year, sero survey was conducted in 11 districts and it was found in 22 percent of the people in sero survey. The COVID-19 tally in Uttar Pradesh rose to 17,08,155 with 43 fresh cases on Sunday, while the death toll reached 22,750 after one more person succumbed to the disease. The death was reported from Gonda, the UP government said in a statement.

Of the 43 fresh cases, eight were reported from Allahabad, six from Lucknow and five from Gautam Buddh Nagar. Sixty-six patients have recovered from the disease in the past 24 hours, taking the total number of recoveries to 16,84,537.

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