Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, August 20
A total of 27.7 per cent people in Punjab’s containment zones are found to be positive for Covid antibodies, indicating that they have already been infected and recovered from the virus.
The survey findings, submitted to Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh during a Covid review meeting on Thursday, showed that the SARS-CoV2 antibodies’ prevalence in the containment zones to be the highest at 40 per cent in Amritsar district, followed by 35.6 per cent in Ludhiana, 33.2 per cent in SAS Nagar, 19.2 per cent in Patiala and 10.8 per cent in Jalandhar.
This was Punjab’s first exclusive survey, which was conducted in five containment zones from August 1 to 17, in a systematically selected random sample population of 1,250. The earlier surveys were more generalised and were conducted by the state government in coordination with the ICMR.
The survey report came on the day when Delhi released its second sero survey findings, which showed nearly 29 per cent seroprevalence in the national capital.
For this exclusive Punjab survey, the selected containment zones, which had reported the highest number of Covid cases, were located one each in Patiala, SAS Nagar, Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Amritsar districts. The sample included 250 people from each zone, and from each selected household, one adult above the age of 18 was randomly chosen for the survey. Rapid antibody testing kits were used during the survey.
Overall, the seroprevalence of SARS CoV-2 antibodies was found to be 27.7 per cent in the containment zones where the highest number of Covid-19 cases had been reported. However, in the remaining parts of the cities, prevalence of the SARS CoV-2 would be lower and in the rural areas the prevalence would be even lower, as per the report of the survey.
Dr KK Talwar, head of the health advisory expert group, said a team of trained field assistants and laboratory technicians collected the data under the supervision of a medical officer. ASHA/ANM facilitated the survey by identifying the households in the zone.
