Only 12.2 percent of health care workers in New York City tested positive for coronavirus antibodies, which means they had previously been infected with the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), compared to 19.9 positivity rate among regular city residents, New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo said in a press briefing on Wednesday
NEW YORK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 13th May, 2020) Only 12.2 percent of health care workers in New York City tested positive for coronavirus antibodies, which means they had previously been infected with the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), compared to 19.9 positivity rate among regular city residents, New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo said in a press briefing on Wednesday.
"We have been doing [antibody] testing of the essential workers to see if we have a problem anywhere, and good news has been the frontline workers are testing at lower rates than the general population," Cuomo said. "The health care workers - 12.2 percent. That's compared to New York City, where about 19.9 percent of the general population [have tested positive]."
Cuomo noted that the New York City Police Department officers also had a significantly lower percentage of the infection - 10.5 percent, similar to transit workers, 14.2 percent of whom tested positive for COVID-19 antibodies.
On the statewide level, only 3.1 percent of 2,750 New York State Police officers surveyed tested positive, compared to 12.3 percent of the general population.
Authorities also sampled over 3,000 workers at the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, and only 7.5 percent had the COVID-19 antibodies, Cuomo added.
The governor said that the highest rate of infection among frontline workers - 17.1 percent - was detected in the New York City Fire Department members and emergency medical technicians.
According to Cuomo, the numbers could be explained by the fact that essential workers use Personal Protective Equipment while on duty, including gloves, face masks and surgical gowns, and it effectively prevents them from contracting the virus.
