Scientists believe that the virus could be propagating from people infected asymptomatically

A serosurvey conducted in Pune city has found that more than 50 per cent people could have been infected by coronavirus, says an article published by The Indian Express.

Similar surveys were earlier carried out in Delhi and Mumbai as well; the number of such people in Pune is considerably higher.

With more than 1. 32 lakh people who confirmed positive for coronavirus, Pune has surpassed Mumbai (40%) in total percentage of people surveyed who have been infected with the disease, the Indian Express points out. The figure for Delhi was 23 per cent.

The findings of Pune sero-survey are “consistent” vis-à-vis the numbers in Delhi and Mumbai, scientists Vineeta Bal and Satyajit Rath informed the publication.

They said, "Together, they say that SARS-CoV2 (the scientific name of novel Coronavirus) has been spreading widely in our urban communities, particularly in crowded localities."

Scientists believe that the virus could be propagating from people infected asymptomatically. They cautioned against considering these outcomes as the percentage of the populace that might have become immune to coronavirus.

"These numbers also seem to confirm the general impression that most SARS-CoV2 infections are asymptomatic (some estimates say approximately 80 per cent are asymptomatic). Most of the volunteers participating in this survey reported no illness over the past few months. Of course, the virus could be spreading from asymptomatically infected people too, especially within families,” The Indian Express quoted the scientists as saying.