Another One: Study Finds 6% Around Miami Have Covid-19 Antibodies — Indicates 0.14% Fatality Rate

The number of positive COVID-19 cases in Miami-Dade County appears to be much higher than is actually being reported, according to results of a preliminary study by Miami-Dade County and the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.

The early findings of SPARK-C, the Surveillance Program Assessing Risk and Knowledge of Coronavirus, a public-private partnership designed to determine the actual rate of COVID-19 exposure in the community found 6% of participants tested positive for COVID-19 antibodies, which equates to 165,000 Miami-Dade County residents.

This figure directly contrasts with testing site data.

As of Friday afternoon, there are 10,700 positive cases, according to the Florida Department of Health, suggesting that the actual number of infections is potentially 16.5 times the number of those captured through testing sites and local hospitals alone.

Researchers say they are “95% certain that the true amount of infection lies between 4.4% and 7.9% of the population, or between 123,000 and 221,000 residents. These results are similar but not identical to other recent, non-randomized testing programs that have been conducted throughout the United States.”

There are 2.75 million residents in Miami-Dade County.

To date, nearly 1,800 individuals have participated in the program which represents 85% of residents who were randomly selected to participate in the initiative; participants voluntarily shared information about their health, and gave two drops of blood to determine whether they had produced antibodies to the novel coronavirus infection.

Testing for antibodies helps approximate the prevalence, or amount, of infection within our community at a given time.

Because the test relies on the level of antibody production in each individual’s blood, there is an 89 percent to 91 percent accuracy rate.

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