Up to half of Czech adult population may have been infected with coronavirus, study shows

Up to 50 percent of the Czech adult population may have contracted the COVID-19 coronavirus since the pandemic began according to the first phase of a study conducted by the RECETOX research centre at the Masaryk University Faculty of Science, Czech Television reported on Wednesday. Official statistics indicate that roughly 17 percent of the population were infected with the coronavirus. However, this number does not include those who were not tested.

According to Masaryk University Professor Vojtěch Thon, the results show a rapid increase in seropositivity demonstrating the large exposure of the Czech population to the SARS-CoV-2 virus during the dramatic second wave of the pandemic, which occurred from the autumn of 2020 to the early months of 2021. While in October and November 2020 only 28 percent of volunteers had antibodies, in December 2020 and January 2021 it was 43 percent and in March 2021 the number reached 51 percent.

The results are part of a larger, three-phase PROSECO study, which documents the levels of COVID-19 antibodies in the Czech population. The research was supported by the health insurance company of the Ministry of Interior (Zdravotní pojišťovna Ministerstva vnitra), which allowed for the testing of antibodies among its clients.