No community spread of corona in UP: health dept

LUCKNOW: The state health department officer on Tuesday said the sample tests conducted by the state health department had ruled out community spread of coronavirus among the people.

The major incidence of infection was being reported from the migrant workers who arrived in UP from the states that were considered red zones, including Maharashtra, Gujarat, Delhi and Tamil Nadu.

LUCKNOW: The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has conducted a population-based sero- survey in 10 districts of Uttar Pradesh to assess the prevalence of coronavirus infection among the people. The sero-survey involves testing of blood serum of a group of individuals to determine the presence of antibodies against that infection.

Principal secretary, health and family welfare, Amit Mohan Prasad said the state health department was waiting eagerly for the ICMR report, on the basis of which the state government would redraw its strategy for the containment zones, he said.

Another health department officer said the sample tests conducted by the state health department had ruled out community spread of coronavirus among the people. The major incidence of infection was being reported from the migrant workers who arrived in UP from the states that were considered red zones, including Maharashtra, Gujarat, Delhi and Tamil Nadu.

The state health department was conducting 8,000-9,000 sample tests in its 26 laboratories across the state daily of which around 300 samples were testing positive. The state health department report also showed that there was no community spread of infection among the people, whereas the infection rate among the migrants was 27 %, he said.

The ICMR has announced to conduct sero-survey in 69 districts of 21 states and Union Territories after the spike in the coronavirus infection. The survey for prevalence of the SARSCoV-2 infection in the population has been conducted in association with National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and World Health Organization.

The sero- survey was being conducted in districts where maximum number of coronavirus infection had been reported as well as in the districts that had a large rural population in which spike in the infection had been reported after the arrival of the migrant workers, he said.

The samples of the people living in the containment zones as well as in red, orange and green districts will be also tested on random basis, he said.

SERO-SURVEY INVOLVES TESTING OF BLOOD SERUM OF A GROUP OF INDIVIDUALS TO DETERMINE PRESENCE OF ANTIBODIES AGAINST THAT INFECTION