By NewsDesk  @infectiousdiseasenews

The Colombia Ministry of Health recorded 8,065 new COVID-19 cases Sunday, bringing the total in the country to 666,521. Colombia has now seen the sixth most COVID-19 cases in the world, following the US, Brazil, India, Russia and Peru.

The Capital District has recorded to most cases, about one third of the country’s total, followed by Antioquia, Atlantico and Valle del Cauca.

256 additional deaths were recorded, bringing the death toll to 21,412.

In related news, the National Institute of Health announced it will be heading up a study of the seroprevalence of COVID-19.

Leticia will be the first city in the country to participate.

“What we will do is take blood samples from the general population, with a representative population sample for the country and stratified by age groups, to identify which people have antibodies generated during infection by the SARS-Cov2 virus; With this it is possible to measure, with precision, whether or not someone was exposed to the virus, even if they had not had a previous diagnosis ”, explained Marcela Mercado, Director of Research in Public Health at the INS. These analyzes seek to measure whether people had an immune response through the generation of antibodies, recording whether they were asymptomatic or symptomatic (mild, moderate, or severe).

In addition to Leticia, the following will be part of this study: Barranquilla, Medellín, Bogotá, Cúcuta, Cali, Bucaramanga and Villavicencio.

Seroprevalence studies are not novel and are usually always done at the end of epidemics, because they provide very important information for future decision-making about the disease and the number of people who are still susceptible, especially related to the immunization strategies of the population.

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