Sero survey to start in UP from September 4

LUCKNOW: The Covid-19 sero prevalence survey is set to begin in Uttar Pradesh from September 4, almost three weeks ahead of schedule. Additional chief secretary, health and family welfare, Amit Mohan Prasad said two rounds of training on September 1 and 3 would precede actual sample collection.
“KGMU will moderate the survey which will cover 11 districts including Kanpur, Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Lucknow and Agra ,” he said. Many states like Delhi, Punjab and Maharashtra have released the outcomes of their sero surveys. “Sample collection will take place between September 4 and 6. As many as 1,080 samples will be collected from each district. This means 11,080 samples will be collected and transported to KGMU for testing,” Prasad said.
All CMOs concerned have been asked to form 10 teams comprising four persons, led by a medical officer, in each district.
The team will look for Covid-19 clusters wherein they will look for 24 people living in six households across four localities – in urban and rural areas – who can be roped in for study.
Public health specialist and epidemiologist Dr Vishwajeet Kumar said: “Knowing that the majority of cases are asymptomatic and liable to be missed in RT-PCR testing, sero-prevalence surveys can be a significant step in the ongoing battle against the pandemic.”