Delhi Government on Saturday began the second phase of serological survey for Covid-19 cases.
Delhi Health Minister Satyender Jain describes this survey as technical processes. “Serological Survey for Covid-19 started from today ( Saturday) in Delhi. In the last survey,24 per cent of people were found to be positive. This is a technical process but will be conducted across the capital. Now we want to see how much difference it has made after one or one and a half months," Jain said.
In the serological survey, blood samples of the people are taken to check for the presence of antibodies for Covid -19 in their body.
According to experts, if the report comes positive for antibodies, it proves that those patients had been infected but have been cured of the viral infection.
According to officials, the second serological survey will be conducted in all 11 districts of Delhi from August 1 till August 5.
While a team of doctors have been appointed, a senior member of the team said, "We take care of hand-washing, hygiene, social distancing and bio-medical medical wastes while conducting the survey. The team conducts the survey under the supervision of a doctor. All the persons giving samples fill a consent form containing all the information related to the sample survey."
As per the strategy, the team will take at least 40 samples of different age group from an area. “Under this, 25 per cent of the samples will be taken from children below 18 years and about 25 per cent of the samples will be taken from people over the age of 50. About 50 per cent of the samples will be obtained from people between 18 and 50 years of age," an expert said.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal Office also tweeted and informed about the survey, said the survey will aid the government to tailor its strategy to changing circumstances
"On the directions of CM Arvind Kejriwal, the Delhi government has begun monthly sero-survey in the city from today. The survey conducted in June showed 24 per cent Delhiresidents have developed antibodies. This will aid the government to tailor its strategy to changing circumstances," the Delhi CMO tweeted.
According to the Indian Council of Medical Research ;ICMR), sero-surveys help to understand the proportion of the population exposed to SARS-CoV-2 infection including asymptomatic individuals. Depending upon the level of sero-prevalence of infection, appropriate public health interventions can be planned and implemented for prevention and control of the disease.
Earlier, this week, Jain has said that the government has decided to conduct sero-surveillance every month in a bid to break the COVID-19 chain and contain the spread of infection.
While 23.48 per cent population is affected with coronavirus in the national capital as per the findings revealed by the Delhi's sero-survey, at least 77 per cent population is still vulnerable to catch the infection, the Union Health Ministry had said on July 21.
