Out of over 30,000 people covered under a heath study conducted by the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) of Gujarat, over 5,000 persons, or 17.61 per cent, were found to have developed antibodies for the coronavirus, official said.
The ''antibody prevalence study'' was conducted by the AMC to find out if herd immunity exists against coronavirus in Ahmedabad city, which accounts for a large share of the total 52,563 cases registered across Gujarat till now.
However, the AMC has maintained that 17.61 per cent positivity rate is not enough to prove the presence of herd immunity, a form of indirect protection that occurs when a large percentage of a population becomes immune to an infection, whether through vaccination or previous infections.
In a statement, the AMC asserted that at least 70 to 80 per cent people need to be infected to establish the presence of herd immunity against coronavirus in population.
"The AMC conducted COVID-19 anti-body prevalence study in the city from June 16 to July 11 to find out if any herd immunity exists against coronavirus at all.
"In all, 30,054 samples were taken from across the city having a population of 6.3 million," said Medical Officer of Health, AMC, Dr Bhavin Solanki.
"Out of over 30,000 samples, in only 17.61 per cent (5,292 persons) samples anti-bodies were found. At least 70 to 80 per cent samples need to come positive to establish the existence of herd immunity.
"Thus, our study has established that there exists no herd immunity in the city," he said.
The AMC officer stressed that the population is still not immune and still susceptible to get new infection, hence, people can not rely on the onset of herd immunity.
Solanki said till a vaccine is developed, people must adopt preventive measures such as wearing face masks and maintaining social distance to curb the COVID-19 spread.
The number of daily new cases of coronaviurs in Ahmedabad city has dropped below the 200-mark in the last two weeks.
Of the total 25,173 cases registered in Ahmedabad district so far, as many as 24,029 were from the city and the rest 1,144 from rural areas.
The ''antibody prevalence study'' was conducted by the AMC to find out if herd immunity exists against coronavirus in Ahmedabad city, which accounts for a large share of the total 52,563 cases registered across Gujarat till now.
However, the AMC has maintained that 17.61 per cent positivity rate is not enough to prove the presence of herd immunity, a form of indirect protection that occurs when a large percentage of a population becomes immune to an infection, whether through vaccination or previous infections.
In a statement, the AMC asserted that at least 70 to 80 per cent people need to be infected to establish the presence of herd immunity against coronavirus in population.
"The AMC conducted COVID-19 anti-body prevalence study in the city from June 16 to July 11 to find out if any herd immunity exists against coronavirus at all.
"In all, 30,054 samples were taken from across the city having a population of 6.3 million," said Medical Officer of Health, AMC, Dr Bhavin Solanki.
"Out of over 30,000 samples, in only 17.61 per cent (5,292 persons) samples anti-bodies were found. At least 70 to 80 per cent samples need to come positive to establish the existence of herd immunity.
"Thus, our study has established that there exists no herd immunity in the city," he said.
The AMC officer stressed that the population is still not immune and still susceptible to get new infection, hence, people can not rely on the onset of herd immunity.
Solanki said till a vaccine is developed, people must adopt preventive measures such as wearing face masks and maintaining social distance to curb the COVID-19 spread.
The number of daily new cases of coronaviurs in Ahmedabad city has dropped below the 200-mark in the last two weeks.
Of the total 25,173 cases registered in Ahmedabad district so far, as many as 24,029 were from the city and the rest 1,144 from rural areas.