Most people have either been infected with COVID-19 earlier or have taken jabs, says Delhi Health Minister on 6th sero-survey report

Claiming that 97 per cent of those under the sixth serological survey in Delhi have developed antibodies against coronavirus, Delhi Health Minister Satyendra Jain on Thursday while specifying the reason for the same said that this is because most of the population in the national capital has already been infected with the virus earlier or have taken the COVID-19 vaccination. Speaking to ANI, Jain said, “The recent serosurvey shows that 97 per cent of people have developed antibodies. It means most of the people have either been infected with the disease earlier or have taken COVID-19 jabs.”

The sixth survey was conducted between September 24 and October 27 and as many as 27,811 samples were tested, of which, 24,895 were seropositive.

According to the survey, antibodies were found in 95 per cent of people who are fully or partially vaccinated, antibodies were present in 82 per cent of unvaccinated citizens.

Sero-prevalence among males was found to be 88.2 per cent and seroprevalence among females is 90.1 per cent which is higher as compared to males.

Participants with a past history of symptomatic COVID-19 infection irrespective of severity had significantly higher odds of seropositivity compared to those without such a history.

The weighted seroprevalence in the districts of the national capital ranged from 84.9 per cent in the South-West district to 90.8 per cent in the East district.Further speaking about the rising cases of Dengue in Delhi, the health minister said, “There are adequate arrangements of facilities in all the hospitals. If 100 dengue suspected patients are coming to the hospitals for treatment, then only 5-6 people are getting diagnosed in the test. Last year, the number of cases was low because COVID-19 numbers were high.”

We are not denying treatment to anybody.People coming from other states will also be provided treatment in Delhi hospitals,” he added.

Delhi hospitals are witnessing a surge in Dengue cases as the number of patients from the national capital and nearby areas, especially Uttar Pradesh, continue to go up.

“A lot of younger patients are coming with dengue fever and dengue hemorrhagic fever and a lot of them are unaware of the fact that they have dengue before. Once their IGG levels are being checked it gets revealed,” stated Dr Pooja Khosla, Senior Consultant in Department of medicine Sir Ganga Ram Hospital. “We are also getting lots of cases from outside Delhi, especially Uttar Pradesh,” she added. As many as 1,006 dengue cases were reported on Tuesday along with 154 cases of malaria and 73 cases of chikungunya in the national capital, as per the data released by South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC).