More than one in five New Yorkers (21.2%) has already been infected with the coronavirus, according to preliminary results of a study carried out on a sample of 3000 people, said Thursday the governor of New York.
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This recent study is "the most important" to date carried out in this State of some 20 million inhabitants, the hardest hit by the epidemic, to detect the presence of antibodies indicative of a coronavirus infection, a explained Governor Andrew Cuomo. The people were chosen "at random" , leaving stores that remained open, and are therefore people who, without being workers deemed "essential", go outside despite the pandemic, he said. According to preliminary results, on average some 13.6% of people tested in the state had antibodies indicative of infection, with large differences by region.
In addition to a 21.2% infection rate in New York City, the region with the highest rate was Long Island (16.7%). It is in this region of large beaches that many wealthy New Yorkers took refuge for the time of confinement, but it is also in some cities of Long Island that we find large Hispanic communities, with many workers employed in supermarkets or delivery services that remained open during containment. But most of the other, more rural, regions had a very low infection rate, only around 3.6%.
The study should give a more precise idea of the spread of the epidemic in New York State, which has already recorded more than 15,000 confirmed safe deaths and 263,000 cases positive for coronavirus, according to its governor. It must also help to determine which regions could begin a gradual deconfinement. "We don't do the same thing in a place with a rate of 21% as in a place where you have 3.6% (...) It is the same theory according to which certain states can reopen earlier than the New York State , " said Governor Cuomo.
American states are divided in the face of deconfinement strategies. Some, like Georgia (south), are ready to authorize the resumption of a series of economic activities on Monday, and in Florida certain beaches have reopened since Sunday. But others, such as New York, whose containment must remain in effect until at least May 15, call for caution to avoid another outbreak of cases.
