MOSCOW, December 16. /TASS/. More than 1.23 mln Russians have passed tests for antibodies to the coronavirus in Invitro’s laboratories, with some 25% of them testing positive, the Russian medical company said on Wednesday.

"By now, more than 1.23 mln coronavirus tests have been conducted, while the total number of positive results hits 25.1% in Russia," the medical company stated.

The biggest number of cases per day was recorded in Novosibirsk, Siberia, where the positive tests’ share for G-class antibodies in December exceeded 60%. In another Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, the figure was 58%, in Omsk - 56%, in Barnaul - 55% and in Irkutsk - 54%.

The epidemiological situation in the largest cities in the Urals follows the same pattern. On average, 52% of daily tests returned positive in Yekaterinburg and Surgut, 53% - in Tyumen and 57% - in Chelyabinsk and Magnitogorsk.

However, the figures differ in Russia’s largest cities of Moscow and St. Petersburg. In Moscow, only 17.7% out of more than 286,000 tests having been conducted since May confirmed the presence of antibodies, while the share of positive tests last month was 30%. In St. Petersburg, the total number of COVID-19 tests surpassed 101,000, and the share of positive results since May was 25%, while last month (on average per day) it reached 38%.

Research details

The Invitro medical company launched mass testing for coronavirus antibodies across Russia on May 18, 2020. Laboratory studies to detect G-class antibodies (IgG) to a past infection use venous blood serum.

Invitro, Russia's private medical company specializing in laboratory diagnostics and medical services, was founded in 1995. The company has offices in six countries with eight laboratory complexes that carry out more than 150,000 studies per day.