In Noida’s pool tests, all samples to test positive are from JJ clusters

Noida: Widening its Covid-19 surveillance, Noida health department has been conducting pool tests across five categories — slums, old age homes and orphanages, healthcare workers, public transport drivers, and vendors and delivery personnel — to monitor risk patterns. On Wednesday, a sixth pool was added — staff at pharmacies.
The slums of Noida ended up having the highest prevalence while all pools were negative in old age homes and among healthcare workers. Report for vendors and delivery staff, bus, auto and cab drivers and pharmacy workers are yet to come in. “The state had asked districts to conduct random pool tests. The results have been encouraging. It was great news that all pools from old age homes and orphanages were negative because the elderly, with comorbodities, are at a higher risk of infection,” said district magistrate Suhas LY.
In pool testing, a number of samples are taken together to be tested. If negative, it eliminates all the samples and if positive, each sample can be tested again. For this survey, the pool size varied. From old age homes and orphanages, four pools (of 10 samples each) were taken. All came back negative. Three pools (of five samples each) were taken from healthcare workers in three Covid-19 hospitals — Sharda, Kailash and NIMS. These were also negative. For two others — transportation workers and delivery personnel — 10 pools (of 10 samples each) were taken but reports are not in yet. Wednesday’s addition, of pharmacy and medical store staff, had 20 pools of 10 samples each.
In slums, 10 pools were collected of five samples each. Samples for the slum pool were taken from sectors 4, 5, 6, 8, 9 and 10, Nithari, Bhangel and Nanga Charandas. Four pools from sectors 5, 8 and 9 tested positive. The JJ Colony areas have been the most potent cluster of cases in Noida, with 60 cases so far. “We will conduct more such tests in containment zones and among other groups,” said Dr Chandan Soni from the district health department.