“Collective Immunity” Study: 26,549 Tested and Only 107 Positive

Immunity to the novel coronavirus is building up very slowly in the Czech Republic, with likely no more than 4-5% of the population covered, the Ministry of Health said on Wednesday, after mass testing for antibodies that started last month.

Testing within this study was designated only for healthy people, i.e. people with no symptoms of upper respiratory disease and who have not previously tested positive for COVID-19.

“The aim of the study was not to determine the number of infected people but to generate hard data about how many people in the population have had COVID-19 with mild or no symptoms,” said Dušek.

Overall, about 27,000 people in 4 geographical areas with various COVID-19 disease caseloads have been tested, namely in Prague, Brno and its surroundings, Olomouc and its surroundings, and Litoměřice.

In Prague, 5,000 people have been tested, including 1,500 between the ages of 8 and 17, 1,500 between the ages of 18 and 39, 1,500 between the ages of 40 and 59 and 1,000 more between the ages of 60 and 89.

On Tuesday, there were 77 new infections, the highest number in the last five days. The Czech Republic has 7,896 confirmed cases of coronavirus. So far 4,006 people have recovered and 257 people have died.