3 new Covid-19 deaths, 167 fresh cases in Gzb

Ghaziabad: Three more deaths were added to Ghaziabad’s Covid fatality figures on Saturday, taking the tally to 73.
While a 57-year-old man from Behta Hazipur died in Meerut’s LLRM hospital, a 54-year-old man from Madhuban Colony and a 66-year-old man from Muradnagar succumbed to the coronavirus infection in Meerut’s Subharti Hospital, officials said.
In the past 24 hours, the district reported 167 fresh cases, while 234 people have been discharged. The active cases in Ghaziabad stood at 1,230 on Saturday.
Meanwhile, on the second day of sero survey, as many as 576 samples were taken from 18 places, including Modinagar, Muradnagar, Vasundhara, Vaishali, Vijay Nagar, Loni and Masuri, said an official from the health department.
On Friday, the sero survey was carried out at eight places, in which 256 samples were collected.
“We will be collecting over 1,000 samples by next week from 45 areas and the same will be sent to Lucknow,” he added.
However, high-voltage drama was witnessed in Loni’s ward number 19 when a local councillor objected to sero survey and prevented the health department from carrying out its work.
“A local councillor had some misgivings about the survey and he prevented the medical team from carrying it out. The matter was settled with the intervention of senior officials,” said the health official. “Sero survey not only helps ascertain the number of people exposed to Covid, but also those who have developed antibodies. Ghaziabad is one district which has reported sizeable cases, so the survey will be beneficial for the general population,” said Ajay Shankar Pandey, district magistrate.
The serological involves collecting blood samples to determine whether a person is infected with Covid.