NEW DELHI: The government will publish the results of the second part of its serological survey, aimed at finding the presence of SARSCoV-2 virus in containment zones, this week, officials at the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) said on Monday.
Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) had conducted the first sero survey in May in collaboration with state health departments, National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), and World Health Organization (WHO) India in two parts.
Part one of the survey, aimed at detecting the number of people infected with SARSCoV-2 in general population, found around 0.73% having evidence of past exposure to the virus. The study was conducted across 83 districts covering 28,595 households and 26,400 individuals.
The second part of the survey, to find out the number of people infected with SARSCoV-2 in containment zones of hotspots, is complete. NCDC is currently compiling the report. The major focus of the government seems to be on the states having rising cases of covid-19 such as Delhi, Maharashtra Tamil Nadu and Gujarat.
In Delhi, the survey in containment zones was done to ascertain the spread of the virus and also put in record high-risk and vulnerable segments in an area. These include senior citizens, people with co-morbidities who can be reached out in this contact tracing exercise, thus lowering the death rate. Similar surveys were carried out in Punjab and Karnataka.
The deadline for the survey was extended to 6 July in containment zones and has been further extended to the rest of the state, Delhi government officials said.
Some preliminary reports through sources have suggested that Delhi’s 10-15% population has been infected by the virus, but official views differ. “The reports of 15% population of Delhi being infected with coronavirus are incorrect. We are coming up with the official data in two days with authentic details. Correct information is critical during the pandemic as misinformation may create problems,” Sujeet Kumar Singh, director, NCDC told Mint.
The National Council of Applied Economic Research, NCAER, recently released the results of round 3 of its Delhi NCR Coronavirus Telephone Survey (DCVTS-3) conducted during June 15-23 in Delhi and rural areas in the NCR’s districts.
The survey found that during the one week prior to the survey date, 73% of Delhi NCR’s residents had stepped out of their homes at least once for some reason or the other.
“Around 78% people had started going to their work places in the 2nd and 3rd week of June. In 18% of the households, people started resuming social activities, such as visiting family, friends and relatives, or attending social functions such as marriages and birthdays,” the report said.
About 12% of the households reported going to public places of worship like temple, mosque, gurudwara, and church, which had been allowed outside containment zones, it said.
