India’s Real COVID Infection 58 to 98 Crore; 17 Times More than Official Data: BHU Study

Varanasi: Although government data claims 4.46 crore people have been infected with COVID-19, a recent study by Banaras Hindu University (BHU) researchers suggests that the real COVID infection in India may be 17 times higher. As per this study number of coronavirus infection cases in India ranges between 58 to 98 crore.

The findings of this study made by researchers of BHU are published in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases (IJID). The study involved 88 scientists from 34 research institutes across the country. The team conducted serosurvey (antibody testing) among 2,301 persons in urban areas of 14 Indian districts in six states during the month of September-December 2020. Samples were taken of only those people who self-reported that they never had any COVID symptoms or positive RT PCR test.

The discrepancy in the figures of the government data and the projected data of this study is due to the overwhelming number of asymptomatic people, said the scientists involved in this study.

It was found that a large proportion of the Indian population was asymptomatic for COVID infection and most of the asymptomatic ones were in the age group 26-35.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday 96 new COVID-19 cases were reported in India. The active cases were 1,785. With the new infections, the total official number of COVID infections in India has reached 4,46,83,639.