Venkaiah Naidu Tests Positive For COVID-19, Is Asymptomatic; 7.1% Of Adults Exposed To Covid By August, Up From 0.73% By May, Reveals ICMR’s Second Sero-Survey Results

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu has tested positive for coronavirus during a routine test, his office said in a tweet on September 29. The 71-year-old, who is in home quarantine, is "asymptomatic and in good health", the tweet read. Meanwhile, around 7.1 per cent of India's adult population (aged 18 & above) showed evidence of exposure to COVID-19 by the end of August, the results of the second national sero-survey, conducted by ICMR between August 17 & September 22, have revealed. This is a massive increase from the 0.73 per cent logged in the first survey. Mumbai showed the highest sero-prevalence with 57.8 per cent of samples (from slums) testing positive. The rate dropped to 17.4 per cent for samples from non-slum areas. Delhi recorded a 29.1 per cent sero-prevalence in the second round of sampling that was conducted between August 1 and 7. This was higher than the 23.1 per cent recorded in the first round conducted between June 27 and July 10. On September 29, for the first time in 28 days, the number of coronavirus deaths over a 24-hour period dropped below 1,000. Along with the 776 fatalities, a total of 96,318 people have lost their lives to the disease till now. The number of people affected by the disease has crossed the 61-lakh mark. 70,589 new cases were recorded in the last 24 hours as per the data released by the Health Ministry. Watch the video to know more.