Sero survey begins in city's 15 wards, 530 samples collected

BHUBANESWAR: Serological survey has been started in Bhubaneswar from Saturday onwards. On the very first day, 530 samples have been collected from 15 wards for the survey to figure out the extent of the spread of the coronavirus.
The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) in association with the ICMR- regional medical research centre (RMRC) Bhubaneswar are conducting this sero survey in the capital city. The health team draws samples randomly from different clusters of the selected wards. About 25 wards have been chosen for this purpose, said BMC commissioner Prem Chandra Chaudhary.
He said the samples will be collected from different community members and high risk groups including immuno-compromised patients, health care workers, securirty personnel, press corps, municipal workers, drivers, shop keepers or vendors, airport workers, inhabitants of urban slums, migrant camps and containment zones.
"We have collected samples from people of 15 wards in Bhubaneswar on the first day of the survey. We will draw samples from 10 wards on Sunday. Around 1,600 samples will be collected from high risk and slum pockets and 900 from community members in the survey. In the first round, 2,500 samples will be collected from the city," said Sanghamitra Pati, director of RMRC Bhubaneswar.
The survey will be conducted in two rounds. The first round will take around 10 to 12 days whereas next round of survey will begin after 28 days of first round as per technical mandate. Exact date will be decided later, said an official source.
The designing of sample collection has been prepared on the basis of the categories of high risk groups. The teams will be visiting people in clusters for the testing. In each ward one cluster has been chosen.
According to the plan, five teams including lab technicians have been formed for the sample collection. There are at least seven members in a team. RMRC scientists and staff guide these teams. Samples will be collected from community members on July 11 and 12. Concerned ward officer under zonal deputy commissioners guide the teams to find clusters.
The RMRC had started this sero survey in Puri district from June 27. It has already collected more than 650 samples from Puri. The state is planning to cover 10,000 people in nine districts of Odisha.
The survey is being conducted in particular areas where Covid-19 case rate is high. They want to see whether any antibody has been developed in the bodies of the people or not. Normally antibody develops when an antigen enters into the human body. The antibody tests will reveal it, said a RMRC epidemiologist.