Despite achieving a record recovery rate against the novel coronavirus, a large proportion of Indian population still remains vulnerable to it, the third serosurvey conducted by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has revealed. Sharing the findings of the survey at a press conference, the Union Health Ministry said the third national serosurvey has found that 21.5 per cent of population, surveyed from December 17 to January 8, showed evidence of past exposure to the coronavirus. A large population still remains vulnerable and vaccination is necessary, the ministry said. The urban slums have reported the highest seroprevalence with 31.7 per cent, the ministry said. The urban slums had reported the highest seroprevalence in the last serosurvey as well, with population density coupled with high mobility, and challenges in safe distancing and hand hygiene being the key driver of spread of infection. On the positive side, the ministry said India’s Covid-19 cumulative positivity rate is 5.42 per cent now and showing further signs of declining. The positivity rate last week was at 1.82 per cent, the Health ministry said. The ministry further said that there are now 47 districts that have not reported any new Covid-19 case and 251 districts have not registered any new death in last three weeks. The last serosurvey released in November last year had found that nearly seven per cent of India’s population aged ten and above was exposed to the coronavirus, amounting to an estimated 74.3 million infections by August.
