COVID-19: Delhi Government’s Next Round Of Sero-Survey Begins; To Be Done Ward-Wise

New Delhi: The national capital’s next round of monthly sero-prevalence survey began on Tuesday covering all 272 municipal wards to analyse the COVID-19 situation in Delhi at “micro-level”, Health Minister Satyendar Jain said. The sample size this time will be 17,000 and the exercise will be carried out for seven days, he told reporters. The last sero-prevalence survey was held from August 1-7, which showed that 29.1 per cent of the people surveyed had antibodies against the coronavirus infection.

Also Read: Delhi Government Doing Aggressive Testing, Aim Is Not To Leave Untraced Cases: Health Minister Satyendar Jain

The fresh round of sero-survey began today. This time we will be doing it ward-wise, so all 272 municipal wards of Delhi will be covered, plus two Assembly areas. Sampling will be done for a week. After that, results should come in 7-10 days, Mr. Jain said.

The previous surveys were done district-wise. But this time, it is being done ward-wise to analyse the COVID-19 situation in the city at a “micro-level”, the Delhi health minister said. While announcing the results of the August, Mr. Jain had said that 15,000 representative samples were taken from 11 districts.

He had also said the prevalence of antibodies in males was 28.3 per cent and that in females was 32.2 per cent. Sero-prevalence of antibodies against COVID-19 found in the age group of less than 18 was 34.7 per cent, in 18-50 years 28.5 per cent, and 31.2 per cent in 50 years and above.

The exercise was undertaken in the first week of August for a comprehensive assessment of the COVID-19 situation in Delhi and to formulate strategies based on its findings. The sero-prevalence survey before the August exercise, done from June 27-July 10 by the Delhi government in association with the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), had used 21,387 samples and found that around 23 per cent of the people surveyed had exposure to the novel coronavirus.

Also Read: Fighting COVID19: Health Ministry To Conduct Population-Based Sero Survey In Select Districts

The rise, rather than the exponential rise is not there. So, people are taking safety precautions it seems. But, we cannot afford to be complacent and lower our guard, Mr. Jain had said on August 20.

The national capital had seen a spurt in daily cases in the last several days and a steady rise in active cases since August 5. Delhi recorded 1,358 fresh COVID-19 cases on Monday, taking the tally in the city to over 1.74 lakh, while the death toll from the disease mounted to 4,444.

The number of active COVID-19 cases on Monday was 14,626. On Sunday, Delhi had recorded 2,024 fresh cases, the highest single-day spike in the city in August. It was also the highest spurt in Delhi in nearly 50 days. Jain had on July 22 announced that after analysing the results of the June-July survey, it was decided that such exercise would be done every month to formulate better policies for tackling COVID-19 situation in the national capital.

Also Read: Delhi Opens Post-COVID Clinic For Recovered Patients, Here’s How It Will Help

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

NDTV – Dettol Banega Swasth India campaign is an extension of the five-year-old Banega Swachh India initiative helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan. It aims to spread awareness about critical health issues facing the country. In wake of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the need for WASH (Water, Sanitation and Hygiene) is reaffirmed as handwashing is one of the ways to prevent Coronavirus infection and other diseases. The campaign highlights the importance of nutrition and healthcare for women and children to prevent maternal and child mortality, fight malnutrition, stunting, wasting, anaemia and disease prevention through vaccines. Importance of programmes like Public Distribution System (PDS), Mid-day Meal Scheme, POSHAN Abhiyan and the role of Aganwadis and ASHA workers are also covered. Only a Swachh or clean India where toilets are used and open defecation free (ODF) status achieved as part of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014, can eradicate diseases like diahorrea and become a Swasth or healthy India. The campaign will continue to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and sanitation workers and menstrual hygiene.