Uttar Pradesh government has launched a sero-survey in the state on Friday to check the prevalence of Covid-19 in the state. The survey will assist the Yogi Adityanath led government to get first hand knowledge of the volume of immunity against coronavirus being developed in people.
UP CM Adityanath ordered the ‘sero-survey’ to assess the prevalence of Covid-19 in the state
“The samples will be collected from June 4 and will enable an assessment of the updated status of the infection at different scales, including gender and age,” the chief minister said on June 1.
Antibody testing repeatedly done over time i.e. sero-surveillance, generates important evidence for assessing the spread of the pandemic from time to time.
The sero-survey involves the collection of blood samples from the general population and tested for IgG antibodies. If the antibody test is positive, it means they were infected with SARS-CoV-2 in the past. The study reveals the percentage of the general population who are at a higher risk of getting infected and thereby, the areas needing more strengthened containment efforts.
The UP government is expected to present the result of the sero-survey by the end of June.
Uttar Pradesh’s COVID caseload increased to 6,95,212 as 1,268 new coronavirus cases were recorded in the last 24 hours, a health department release stated on June 3.
With 4,260 more COVID-19 patients discharged since Wednesday, the total number of recoveries increased to 16,48,771. The recovery rate now stands at 97.1 per cent.
According to the release, there are 25,546 active cases in Uttar Pradesh.
The UP government had launched a house-to-house drive to trace active cases of COVID-19 in rural areas.
As per the WHO, the UP administration “deployed 141,610 teams and 21,242 supervisors from the state health department to ensure all rural areas are covered with this COVID-19 case finding activity”.