Sero Survey Report Delhi : About 23% of People COVID-19 Positive in the Capital

New Delhi: A Sero-prevalence study has found that about 23 percent of those surveyed in Delhi have been affected by COVID-19. The government gave this information on Tuesday. Dr. Sujit Kumar, director of the National Center for Disease Control (NCDC), said that for the remaining 77 percent of the people there is still a risk of viral disease and prevention measures should continue with the same rigor.

Sero-survey studies examine blood serum of people to identify people in a population or community who develop antibodies against an infectious disease. According to the Union Health Ministry, a study conducted by NCDC from 27 June to 10 July in collaboration with the Delhi government also showed that a large number of infected persons did not have symptoms. 21,387 samples were included in this study. “Keeping in view the sensitivity and specificity of the ELISA test kit, the figures were adjusted and it was found to be 22.86 percent in Delhi,” Singh said. This should be considered the correct figure. Of the total 11 districts, 20 have more than 20 percent Sero-prevalence. ”

He said that Sero-surveillance was done to find out what proportion of the total population of Delhi is affected by Coronavirus and the number of samples taken from each district was in proportion to the population of that area.

The Health Ministry said in a statement earlier in the day, “The results of Sero-prevalence studies show that on average, the presence of IgG antibodies is 23.48 percent in the whole of Delhi. This study also shows that many infected people did not have signs of infection.”

Sharing the findings of the survey, Singh said, “it revealed that in eight of the 11 districts of the national capital, more than 20 percent of the population’s body had antibodies to fight COVID-19.” “This means that during the nearly six-month spread of the global pandemic, only 22.86 per cent of people were affected in Delhi, while the city has many densely populated areas,” he said.

The ministry attributed this to lockdown, control and surveillance measures to prevent the spread of infection, other efforts by the government, including detection of people exposed to infected people, and appropriate behavior of citizens in the context of COVID. The ministry said that steps such as social distance, use of masks or covers, hygiene of hands and avoiding crowded spaces have to be strictly followed.

Survey teams were formed for all 11 districts of Delhi. Blood samples were taken from selected individuals after obtaining their written consent and IgG antibodies and infection were tested in their serum. COVID armor ELISA Kit approved by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) was used for this.

Sero availability 22.12 percent in the south-eastern district of the capital, 27.61 in Shahdara, 23.31 in northwest Delhi, 22.87 in New Delhi, 27.86 in central Delhi, 12.95 in southwest, 27.7 in north-eastern district, 23.9 in East Delhi, 25.26 in North Delhi, 18.61 in South Delhi and Sero availability 19.13 percent in West Delhi was found.

NITI Aayog member VK Paul said, “Because antibodies take about 14 days to form, the study shows a picture of Delhi in the third week of June (18th and 19th day of the month) when cases of infection increased at a fast pace.” In Delhi, 1,349 new cases of coronavirus infection were reported on Tuesday, taking the total number of cases in the city to more than 1.25 lakh. An epidemic in the capital has caused 3,690 deaths.