More than 21,000 IgG ELISA tests will be conducted across Haryana, 960 in each district, as part of a four-day serological survey from August 17 to understand the proportion of population exposed to the novel coronavirus infection. The survey will be conducted in collaboration with Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh.
In Ambala and Panchkula, the survey will be carried out from August 17-19 and in the rest of the State from August 18-20.
For the purpose of the survey, the urban and rural areas in a district will be divided into four and 12 clusters respectively. Stratified multi-stage random sampling will be done during the survey in proportion to the ratio of rural to urban population in Haryana, which is around 60:40.
Survey methodology
Each selected cluster will be geographically divided into roughly four quadrants. The middle of each quadrant will be marked with its location as per the global positioning system.
The survey team will visit consecutive houses from this point until the required sample size for that location is completed.
The survey team is required to explain to the participant the purpose of the study, the procedure, the risks and the participant’s rights and seek consent. The details of the participants will be kept confidential. No compensation will be paid for participation and the participants must be above 18 years.
Each district will have 6-12 teams comprising a medical officer, a laboratory technician, among others.
Additional Chief Secretary, Health and Family Welfare, Rajeev Arora, said the study would help to determine the burden of COVID 19 infection at the community level and monitor the trends in transmission of SARS- CoV-2 infection. Its findings would be useful to guide in designing and implementing appropriate containment measures, he said.
A similar survey was conducted in five districts of Haryana with around 300 samples each in July.