At least 82 per cent of people above 18 years have antibodies against Covid-19 and over 40 per cent of children in the 5-17 age group are exposed to the virus in Kerala, said the latest seroprevalence survey conducted by the state government.

The survey report was tabled in the state assembly by health minister Veena Goerge on Monday. Since the Covid-19 vaccine was not given to children below 18 years, the presence of antibodies may be due to recovery from infection, said experts. The survey was conducted in the first week of July and August wherein 13,000 samples were collected from different parts of the state.

Since 60 per cent of children are not exposed to the virus, it is likely to affect the government’s decision to open schools on November 1. The health minister, however, said the government had formulated a “back to school” programme anticipating such a situation.

“It is not mandatory for all children to attend school. Children can come only with the full consent of parents,” she said, adding that online classes will be available for students who do not want to attend school in person. The pandemic hub of the country, Kerala, for the last four months, has been reporting more than 60-70 per cent of total cases.

In the last serosurvey conducted by the Indian Council of Medical Research in July, Kerala’s seropositivity was the lowest in the country at 44.4 per cent while the latest is pegged at 82.6%. The immunity has been achieved either through vaccination or natural infection, said experts. Over 95 per cent of the eligible population got at least one vaccine in the state and 60 per cent received both the jabs, statistics show.

Meanwhile, the state reported 6,996 new Covid-19 cases on Monday after testing 66,702 samples for the infection with a test positivity rate of 10.49%. It also reported 84 deaths in past 24 hours.

(With inputs from agencies)