The New Indian Express : Sep 01, 2020, 08:09 PM
NEW DELHI: The national capital's third round of monthly sero-prevalence survey began on Tuesday to analyse the COVID-19 situation in Delhi, Health Minister Satyendar 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. If the report comes positive for antibodies, it proves that those patients had been infected but have been cured of the viral infection.The sample size this time will be 17,000 and the exercise will be carried out for seven to ten days."The third phase of sero-survey is beginning today. This time it is being done on a ward-wise basis. The sample size is 17,000. The sampling will be complete within a week and it will take 7-10 days after that to process it," said Jain while speaking to ANI.Notably, the last sero-prevalence survey was held from August 1-7, according to which antibodies against COVID-19 infection were found in 29.1 per cent of people surveyed in Delhi.In August, the Delhi Chief Minister's (CMO) office said that the survey will aid the government to tailor its strategy to changing circumstances."On the directions of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, the Delhi government has begun monthly sero-survey in the city from today. The survey conducted in June showed 24 per cent Delhi residents 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.