21% of New York Citizens Already Infected with COVID-19

New York Governor, "Antibody Test Results Estimate 13% of Residents, 2.7 Million Infected"
Ten Times More Than Confirmed COVID-19 Cases

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy New York=Correspondent Baek Jong-min] As a result of antibody testing conducted in New York State, it was found that about 13% of the total residents, approximately 2.7 million people, may have been infected with the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced this on the 23rd (local time) at a press conference regarding the results of antibody tests conducted on about 3,000 residents. When limited to New York City alone, the positive response rate was as high as 21%. New York State had previously announced that it would conduct aggressive testing on its own starting this week in response to pressure from the Donald Trump federal government to resume economic activities.

Despite the small sample size and the somewhat lower accuracy of antibody tests, this serves as evidence that COVID-19 has already spread widely within the New York community.

Johns Hopkins University in the U.S. reported that as of 4 p.m. on the same day, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in New York State was 269,756. This figure came from tests conducted on 670,000 people.

The results of this antibody test may indicate that many New York residents have already been exposed to COVID-19 and have developed antibodies. The New York Times described it as hopeful that 2.7 million people were infected with the virus and survived. Governor Cuomo emphasized that the actual COVID-19 fatality rate in New York State is likely much lower.

The fact that many people have already been infected and developed antibodies could also affect the timing of the resumption of economic activities. Governor Cuomo explained, "Through this test, we can obtain information for strategies to ease social distancing." This means that if the infection rate decreases through antibody testing, social distancing can be relaxed, and if the opposite occurs, it can be strengthened again.