Antibody tests in Miami-Dade County, Florida, suggest that something like 6 percent of local residents have been infected by the virus that causes COVID-19.
Based on the current Miami-Dade death toll, those results suggest a fatality rate of about 0.2 percent among people infected by the virus, similar to results from Santa Clara County and Los Angeles County in California but about one-third the rate implied by antibody tests in New York.
Another concern about these studies is the accuracy of the antibody tests.
In Los Angeles County, the lead researcher, USC public policy professor Neeraj Sood, expressed confidence in the accuracy of the antibody tests.
State researchers in New York developed and validated their own antibody tests "With federal approval," The New York Times reports.
Keeping in mind the potential problems with sampling and test accuracy, as well as the preliminary nature of the results, the four studies in California, New York, and Florida are broadly consistent in finding that the total number of infections far exceeds the number of confirmed cases.
The estimated ratio of infections to confirmed cases covers a wide range in these studies: around 10 in New York, 16 in Miami-Dade, 40 in Los Angeles County, and nearly 70 in Santa Clara County.
https://reason.com/2020/04/26/miami-dade-antibody-tests-suggests-covid-19-infections-exceed-confirmed-cases-by-a-factor-of-16/
Based on the current Miami-Dade death toll, those results suggest a fatality rate of about 0.2 percent among people infected by the virus, similar to results from Santa Clara County and Los Angeles County in California but about one-third the rate implied by antibody tests in New York.
Another concern about these studies is the accuracy of the antibody tests.
In Los Angeles County, the lead researcher, USC public policy professor Neeraj Sood, expressed confidence in the accuracy of the antibody tests.
State researchers in New York developed and validated their own antibody tests "With federal approval," The New York Times reports.
Keeping in mind the potential problems with sampling and test accuracy, as well as the preliminary nature of the results, the four studies in California, New York, and Florida are broadly consistent in finding that the total number of infections far exceeds the number of confirmed cases.
The estimated ratio of infections to confirmed cases covers a wide range in these studies: around 10 in New York, 16 in Miami-Dade, 40 in Los Angeles County, and nearly 70 in Santa Clara County.
https://reason.com/2020/04/26/miami-dade-antibody-tests-suggests-covid-19-infections-exceed-confirmed-cases-by-a-factor-of-16/
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