Coronavirus: Slovenia, only one in 30 exposed to virus
Study, 2-4% with antibodies, similar results in Czechia
06 May, 18:58For the research, first of this type in Slovenia and led by the Institute of Microbiology and Immunology, 1,368 people were tested with nasal swabs and for immune response with a blood sample, the Slovenian news agency STA reported. Out of the total sample, representative of the entire population, 41 persons (3.1%) had antibodies in their blood, two tested positive.
"Given that the sample was representative of the entire population, researchers can say with 95% certainty that 2-4% of the population had had an immune response to Covid-19," STA clarified. Miroslav Petrovec, head of the Institute that lead the research, cautioned that people with antibodies are not necessarily immune to Covid-19. People that took part in the study will be remotely monitored every two weeks in the next six months and will be retested in October.
The 2-4% rate of population with an immune response for Covid-19 is "too small to be able to conclude that the virus will not spread if returns, to prevent the virus spreading we need at least 60 to 70% of people to have been infected," Mateja Logar, a doctor of the Ljubljana UKC jospital, told the Slovenian television on Tuesday, when some of the main results of the study were disclosed.
A similar study carried out in the Czech Republic has produced similar results than the one performed in Slovenia. Out of 26,549 people tested in a research in Czechia, only 107 were found positive, with an estimated 4-5% of the population with some kind of immunity response, local media reported on Wednesday.
More than 1,400 confirmed cases of Covid-19 and 99 deaths were reported in Slovenia as of May 6, while Czechia recorded almost 7,900 cases, 258 deaths. (ANSA).