By Barbara Goldberg and Nathan Layne
(Reuters) – New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Thursday a preliminary survey found that nearly 14% tested positive for antibodies against the novel coronavirus, suggesting that as many as 2.7 million New Yorkers may have been infected with the disease.
While noting the sample size of 3,000 people and other limitations of the survey, Cuomo said the implied fatality rate of 0.5 percent of those infected by COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the virus, was lower than some experts feared.
“If the infection rate is 13.9 percent, then it changes the theories of what the death rate is if you get infected,” Cuomo told a daily briefing.
The survey targeted people who were out shopping, but not working, meaning they were not essential workers like grocery clerks or bus drivers but were more…
