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An Indian health official uses a swab to collect sample from a child to conduct tests for the coronavirus
Delhi, which has a population of 29 million, has officially reported 123,747 coronavirus cases and 3,663 deaths. Photograph: Yawar Nazir/Getty Images
Delhi, which has a population of 29 million, has officially reported 123,747 coronavirus cases and 3,663 deaths. Photograph: Yawar Nazir/Getty Images

Global report: nearly a quarter of people in Delhi have had coronavirus, study finds

This article is more than 3 years old

Antibodies found in more than 23% of Indian capital’s residents; Trump admits virus getting worse; Victoria reports record Australian daily tally

Almost a quarter of people in the Indian capital of Delhi have been infected with the coronavirus, according to scientists, raising fears there could be many more cases in the country of 1.3 billion people.

Random testing of more than 20,000 people in Delhi by India’s national disease control centre found that 23.48% had antibodies to the virus. Adjusting for false positives and negatives, it was estimated that 22.86% of the population had been infected, Sujeet Kumar Singh, who heads the institute, said on Tuesday.

Delhi, which has a population of 29 million, has officially reported 123,747 cases and 3,663 deaths, AP reported. The study, however, indicates more than 6.6 million likely cases, with most not identified or tested.

More than 1 million in India have already been infected with the disease, which is spreading quickly through the country’s population. Latest figures from Johns Hopkins University showed that there were 37,000 new cases on Monday, only a slight fall on Sunday’s record high of more than 40,000.

It is the third worst-affected nation in the world, behind the United States (3.9 million cases) and Brazil (2.16 million). But compared to those two countries and to global averages, the percentage of the Indian population that has died from the virus is significantly lower. The national death toll rose to 28,084 on Tuesday, with the number of recoveries at 724,577.

Experts suspect that many virus deaths, especially among the elderly, are not being picked up in official fatality numbers. Testing is even more limited outside the capital.

Jayaprakash Muliyil, an epidemiologist at the Christian Medical College in the southern Indian city of Vellore, who is advising the government on virus surveillance, noted that the survey results produced by the national disease centre were an average and the percentage of people infected could be much higher in certain areas, such as slums. “You need to look at different clusters,” he said.

In the US, Donald Trump adopted a notably different stance on the outbreak when he gave his first media briefing on the virus for months on Tuesday. Trump, who has previously boasted that his government is doing a “great job” in fighting the outbreak, admitted that the pandemic would get worse before it got better.

Facing surging cases, criticism for lack of leadership and dire poll numbers ahead of November’s election, the US president tried to show more discipline in both style and substance when he returned to the White House podium.

In a briefing lasting less than 30 minutes, he urged people to wear face masks and promised his administration was working on a “strategy” to beat the virus.

The pandemic will “probably, unfortunately, get worse before it gets better”, Trump said, reading from scripted remarks. “Something I don’t like saying about things, but that’s the way it is.”

Australia has recorded its biggest ever daily increase in new cases as the country’s second wave of coronavirus continues to mount.

Victoria, whose state capital of Melbourne has been placed into a renewed lockdown, registered 484 new cases on Tuesday, surpassing on its own the previous national record figure of 469 set in March. Wearing a mask will be compulsory in public areas in Melbourne from midnight on Wednesday.

New South Wales recorded 18 new cases as it fights to stop the spread from its southern neighbour, while Queensland had one new infection to report.

China reported 14 new coronavirus cases in the mainland on Tuesday, up from 11 cases a day earlier, the National Health Commission said on Wednesday. Of the new infections, nine were in the far western region of Xinjiang. The other five were imported cases.

The UK government said on Tuesday it was investing in up to 12 possible vaccines as it seeks to hedge its bets on the outcome of various trials now taking place around the world. Kate Bingham, the chair of the government’s vaccines taskforce, said the strategy was to have an entire portfolio rather than one star player.

It came as two Chinese nationals were indicted in the US for allegedly trying to steal secret Covid-19 vaccine research.

Li Xiaoyu, 34, and Dong Jiazhi, 33, also targeted human rights activists in the US, China and Hong Kong, assistant attorney general John Demers alleged on Tuesday. The pair, who are believed to be in China, were said to have acted in some instances “for their own personal gain” and in others for the benefit of China’s government.

An attempt in Japan to boost domestic tourism has begun in chaotic fashion after the government was forced to prevent people from visiting Tokyo because of a rise in cases in the capital.

The city announced 237 new cases on Tuesday, bringing the capital’s tally to almost 10,000 – about half Japan’s total.

The Go To campaign was supposed to kickstart the dormant tourism industry, which was dealt a huge blow when the country had to postpone this year’s Olympic Games.

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