Nearly half a million people in the city of Wuhan, China, where the first Covid-19 outbreak occurred, may have contracted Covid-19, 10 times the confirmed figure, according to the Center for Control. Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The study used samples of 34,000 people in the population of Wuhan – once the epicenter of the epidemic and other cities of Hubei province, as well as areas such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangdong provinces, Jiangsu, Sichuan and Liaoning to assess Covid-19 infection rate.
The researchers found that the rate of antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 in Wuhan was 4.43%, out of a total population of 11 million people. Meanwhile, as of December 27, Wuhan has only announced 50,354 cases of Covid-19. This study aims to evaluate the extent of infection in the population by testing blood samples of people with antibodies to the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
The China Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said the study was conducted a month after China “took control of the first wave of Covid-19 outbreaks”.
The study also shows that the rate of infection outside Wuhan city is relatively low. In other cities in Hubei province, only 0.44% of participants were found to have antibodies to the SARS-CoV-2 virus. Outside of Hubei province, antibodies were detected in only 2 of the more than 12,000 people sampled.