Delhi’s Sero survey kicks off with Central, North districts

Teams of 4 have been deployed for survey which will test 20K people in the city

NEW DELHI: The national Capital on Saturday began the ambitious project of conducting a city-wide Serological survey to check for the prevalence of COVID-19 among the general population here, kicking off sample collection in the North and Central districts, with a total of 18 teams deployed in both these districts.

The National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) is collaborating with the Delhi government to use rapid antibody tests to understand the epidemiological path of the virus in the city and is expected to cover 20,000 people across all 11 districts.

Director-general of DGHS, Dr Nutan Mundeja said: “16 teams have been deployed in the Central district and two teams in the North district.”

“Each team comprises one lab technician, who will take the sample, a paramedic to take consent from the resident, a backup staff and a support staff to note down details for data collection,” said a Health department official in the Delhi government.

“There will also be doctors on board who will monitor teams district wise,” Dr Mundeja told Millennium Post, adding that Asha workers will be roped in as well.

A Serosurvey includes IGG Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) test, which looks for proteins found in COVID-19 antibodies. The IGG test may not be useful for the detection of acute infections but it shows if a particular infection has happened in the past or not, said the health official.