---
title: "Italy survey suggests coronavirus six times more prevalent than official data"
description: "MILAN, Aug 3 (Reuters) - Almost 1.5 million people in Italy or 2.5% of the population have developed coronavirus antibodies, a figure six times more than official numbers reported, according to a survey from statistics agency Istat on Monday."
type: "NewsArticle"
publisher: "Daily Maverick"
site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za"
section: "Newsdeck"
author: "Reuters"
author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/reuters/"
canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2020-08-03-italy-survey-suggests-coronavirus-six-times-more-prevalent-than-official-data/"
published: "2020-08-03T21:57:53"
updated: "2020-08-03T21:58:09"
lang: "en-ZA"
word_count: 110
---

# Italy survey suggests coronavirus six times more prevalent than official data

> MILAN, Aug 3 (Reuters) - Almost 1.5 million people in Italy or 2.5% of the population have developed coronavirus antibodies, a figure six times more than official numbers reported, according to a survey from statistics agency Istat on Monday.

By Reuters · Published 3 August 2020, 23:57 SAST · Updated 3 August 2020, 23:58 SAST

## Content

The survey by Istat and the health ministry, was based on antibody tests conducted on 64,660 people.

Official figures show 248,229 confirmed cases of COVID-19 patients in Italy, with 35,166 deaths.

The survey found marked local differences with the northern region of Lombardy, where the epidemic first broke out in February, showing 7.5% of the population had tested positive for coronavirus antibodies compared to just 0.3% in the southern region of Sicily.

The survey found almost 30% of people with antibodies were asymptomatic, pointing to the risk of the illness being spread by people unaware they were carriers. (Reporting by Emilio Parodi; Writing by James Mackenzie; Editing by Aurora Ellis)