half UK caught COVID-19?

Has half the UK already caught COVID-19? Probably not.

By Nicoletta Lanese - Staff Writer 3 hours ago

A new study rests on several big assumptions, but highlights the desperate need for antibody testing.

 
 
 
 
 

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Oxford Circus Station in April 2015

(Image: © Shutterstock)

On March 24, a headline in the Financial Times proclaimed that "Coronavirus may have infected half of UK population," suggesting that many people in the region may have already recovered from and developed some immunity to COVID-19.

But is that actually true?

The news article focused on a new study from the University of Oxford, which has not been peer reviewed or published in a scientific journal. The study authors collected available data about deaths tied to the novel coronavirus, called SARS-CoV-2, reported in both the United Kingdom and Italy, and used these numbers to model how the virus might have spread through the U.K. so far.