A sero-surveillance study conducted in Mumbai has revealed that 57% of the population living in slum areas and 16% of non-slum residents in three civic wards have been exposed to Covid-19 and have developed antibodies.
The BMC said that higher prevalence in slums could possibly be due to the population density and shared common facilities like toilets.
The survey also showed a high proportion of asymptomatic cases in Mumbai.
The survey also showed that prevalence of antibodies was slightly higher in women than in men.
The BMC added that the sero-surveillance survey indicates that the infection fatality rate is likely to be very low, in the range of 0.05-0.10%.
The civic body is going to conduct another survey that will provide information about infection spread and throw light on herd immunity as well.
The Serological Surveillance for SARS-CoV2 infection was jointly commissioned by NITI Aayog, the BMC and the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research.
A serological survey involves testing of blood serum of individuals to check for the prevalence of antibodies against an infection.
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