The estimate is based on antibody results from 45,367 adults in New York City tested between May 13 and July 21, 2020. Researchers at the city’s health department and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health authored the study.
In total, 23.6 percent of study participants had antibodies after the city’s first virus wave. Black and Hispanic residents were about twice as likely to have had antibodies compared to white residents. About 35 percent of Hispanic adults and 33.5 percent of Black adults had antibodies, compared to 16 percent of white adults, according to The New York Times.
A major study limitation is that fewer than 3,500 Black adults participated in the study, making them underrepresented in the research, reported the Times. Researchers also recruited some study participants through online ads, which could have attracted people who thought they’d already been exposed to COVID-19 and wanted to get antibody testing, they said.
To read the Times‘ full article, click here.
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