Serological testing to begin in Delhi from today. Here's what we know so far
Amid rising number of COVID-19 cases in the national capital, the authorities in Delhi have decided to start a massive campaign of serological testing as a part of their efforts to curb the spread of the virus.
Serological test or sero-surveillance is a diagnostic method used to identify antibodies present in our immunity systems when we get infected with the virus.
These types of tests are used for surveillance among communities and can be used on people who have already contracted coronavirus. So if someone has not tested positive in the past but had COVID-19, the survey would find out.
“Depending upon the level of seroprevalence of infection, appropriate public health interventions can be planned and implemented for prevention and control of the disease. Periodic serosurveys are useful to guide policymakers,” an official of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) had said earlier.
When will the testing be conducted?
The serological testing in Delhi will begin today (June 27) and carry on till July 10.
“As per the directives of HM @AmitShah, discussion was done on the serological survey in Delhi, which will be carried out jointly by NCDC and Delhi Government. Survey will begin from June 27, training of all the concerned survey teams was completed yesterday,” a home ministry spokesperson tweeted on Friday.
Who will conduct the serological testing?
The testing will be carried out in a joint collaboration between the Central and the State govt.
Where will the serological testing be carried out?
The survey will be carried out in all 11 districts of Delhi and over 20,000 households will be taken into account. This will be done on random basis and individuals below the age of 18 will also be included in the survey.
How is serological testing done?
A serological survey is done with the help of an ELISA test. It helps estimating the proportion of the population exposed to the novel coronavirus.
Five millilitres of blood sample is collected from the subjects and then put in a machine where blood and plasma are separated. The plasma is then used to detect antibodies developed against Covid-19 in the body.
Similiar test was carried out by the ICMR in May across 83 districts in 21 states. The tests showed that the general population to have been infected in the past was 0.73%. This number was higher for the urban areas where the infection rate was 1.09%.
