OREANDA-NEWS. About 1.5 million Italians have been ill with the coronavirus infection of a new type from February to June. This was reported by the newspaper Corriere della Sera, citing a serologic study of the population conducted in the country.

This is six times more than it was previously considered. Such different estimates are explained by the fact that so far in Italy, data on cases have been received only based on the results of tests for coronavirus. Now, physicians have checked how many people have antibodies in their blood to fight against COVID-19. Their presence indicates that this or that person has been ill with the virus in recent months and has developed immunity.

Almost 65 thousand people took part in the serological research. Experts proportioned its result to get data on the coronavirus situation in the whole country, and it turned out that about 1.5 million (2.5 %) of Italians have antibodies.