Results from a new antibody testing study suggest that 13.9 percent of New Yorkers have had the coronavirus, according to Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
CNBC reports: The state randomly tested 3,000 people at grocery stores and shopping locations across 19 counties in 40 localities, Cuomo said. “What we found so far is that the state-wide number is 13.9% tested positive for having the antibodies. What does that mean? It means these were people who were infected and who developed the antibodies to fight the infection,” he said. “They were infected three weeks ago, four weeks ago, five weeks ago, six weeks ago, but they had the virus, they developed the antibodies and they are now recovered.’”
More from NBC 4: That equates to 2.7 million infections statewide — more than 10 times the state’s current number of confirmed cases. The study, part of Cuomo’s “aggressive” antibody testing launched earlier this week, involves random daily tests of 3,000 New Yorkers. New York City had a higher rate of antibodies (21.2 percent) than anywhere else in the state and accounted for 43 percent of the total tested. Long Island had a 16.7 percent positivity rate, while Westchester and Rockland counties saw 11.7 percent of their participants come up with the antibody. The rest of the state, which accounted for about a third of those studied, had a 3.6 percent positivity rate. There were early variations by race/ethnicity and age as well.
