More than one in five New Yorkers had already contracted COVID-19 by the end of March, shows a study conducted by the State of New York which tends to show that the spread of the virus is largely underestimated by official data .
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To find this out, the scientists visited 99 grocery stores in New York State from April 19 to 28. On site, they tested 15,101 clients for traces of antibodies linked to the SARS-CoV2 virus, responsible for COVID-19. The presence of such antibodies in a person’s system shows that they have contracted the coronavirus, whether or not they have had symptoms.
The researchers chose to go to grocery stores because “these essential businesses remained open during the period of closure and attract a heterogeneous clientele,” it said in the study.
Of the approximately 15,000 clients tested statewide, 1,887 had antibodies linked to the novel coronavirus. After breaking down and weighting the results, the scientists concluded that about 14% of people in New York State had already contracted COVID-19 as of March 29, which represents 2.14 million people.
This rate is even more impressive in New York City itself, the epicenter of the epidemic in the United States, where 22.7% of citizens were said to have already been infected with COVID-19 at the end of March.
Yet, according to official data, New York State had only around 189,000 cases of COVID-19 at the end of March, mostly concentrated in its metropolis and surrounding areas. The researchers therefore conclude that only 8.9% of patients could be detected thanks to the screening campaign.
As of May 31, New York State had a total of 370,770 COVID-19 cases and 23,905 deaths, including just over 200,000 COVID-19 cases, including 16,848 confirmed deaths and 4,721 “likely” related deaths. to COVID-19 for New York City alone.
The study, published Friday, was carried out by researchers from the New York State Department of Health, with support from colleagues at the School of Public Health at Albany University. However, it has not yet been peer reviewed academically for publication in a scientific journal.
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