COVID-19 Infection in 8 Big Cities of India: The Dynamics of the Spread and Seropositivity

Abstract

The seroprevalence in the population of 8 big cities (Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Bangalore, Pune, Coimbatore, Surat, Visakhapatnam, and Nagpur) of India and the dynamics of the COVID-19 spread have been compared. The seropositivity data are of the self-referred residents only. The research is useful to know if the seroprevalence that occurred in the population has decreased the surge in infection in the second wave of the pandemic. The seroprevalence data are for the period July-December 2020 while the monthly new infections have been studied for July 2020-June 2021. For the cities: Visakhapatnam, Nagpur, Surat, Pune, and Coimbatore, the seropositivity of the population reached a plateau and then decreased. A decrease in seroprevalence did not result in higher infection rates. The seropositivity of Jaipur, Ahmedabad, and Bangalore showed a monotonous increase. A relationship between the plateau values of seroprevalence and infection rates could be established. More seroprevalence resulted in lower infection rates in cities (Bangalore, Visakhapatnam, Jaipur) and (Surat, Coimbatore, Pune) in the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic. The investigation of seroprevalence in the population will help in ramping up vaccination to eradicate the pandemic.