Some areas of New York City may have reached a 68% coronavirus immunity rate

Some areas of New York City have recorded a nearly 70% rate of immunity to the novel coronavirus, in what scientists are calling a "stunning" finding.

Sixty-right percent of those tested for coronavirus antibodies in the Corona neighborhood of Queens received positive results, while a neighboring clinic saw results of 56%. 

The findings suggest that percentage of people have already contracted the virus and at least some among them could, as a result, be immune to a second wave.  

Based on publicly available data, those results, which were initially recorded by healthcare company CityMD, suggest a higher antibody rate than anywhere in the world. 

The Italian province of Bergamo, with 57% immunity rate, ranks second. 

New York doctors said that confirmed antibody rates were generally higher in lower-income neighborhoods of the city, implying that those areas may ultimately be safer should a second wave of the virus hit the city. Though they are also warning that it would be a mistake to base public health decisions off of antibody rates in a single region.

It is also not yet clear that everyone with positive coronavirus antibodies has complete protection from a second infection. 

Herd immunity typically requires at least 70% of a population to possess antibodies. As of late June, CityMD had administered about 314,000 tests, 26% of which came back positive. 

In Spain, where the largest antibody test to date was carried out, only 5% of the 60,000 people tested yielded positive results.