Mumbai sero survey: 57% in slums, 16% in non-slums exposed to Covid-19

Jul 28, 2020 23:42 IST

A sero-survey conducted by the BMC in Mumbai on 6,936 people from three wards found that 57% of people in slums had been exposed to and developed antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 virus, as opposed to 16% in residential societies.
Those who were associated with the survey said that shared facilities like toilets, high population density and lack of physical distancing may be the reasons why those living in slums were 3.5 times more infected with the virus than people living in housing societies.
The survey found that 40% of total respondents had the infection. Interestingly, more women were found to have been infected than men.
The BMC conducted the survey with the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) and the Niti Aayog. Among those tested, were an equal number of slum and non-slum dwellers, men and women, and people from different age groups, ranging from 10 year olds to senior citizens.