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Covid-19: Antibodies found in 8% of Haryana’s population, says health minister

Hindustan Times, New Delhi | Byhindustantimes.com| Edited by: Harshit Sabarwal
Sep 04, 2020 06:40 PM IST

A sero-survey involves testing the blood serum of a group of individuals for the presence of antibodies against the infection to know who had been infected in the past and has recovered now.

Haryana’s health minister Anil Vij on Friday said that antibodies against the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) disease were found in eight per cent of the state’s population after a sero-prevalence survey was carried out.

A sero-survey involves testing blood serum of a group of individuals for the presence of antibodies against the infection to know who had been infected in the past and has recovered now.

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Overall, 18,905 samples were collected and the sero-prevalence study showed that the sero-positivity of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, is eight per cent in the state, Vij said pointing out that the urban population was affected more than the rural population.

“The sero-positivity observed that in urban areas the rate is 9.59 per cent and in rural areas it is 6.9 per cent,” the health minister said while addressing a virtual press conference.

A total of 850 samples each were collected from 22 districts in both urban and rural areas of Haryana.

As per the survey carried out, National Capital Region (NCR) districts of Faridabad and Gurugram had high sero-positivity rates.

Rajeev Arora, additional chief secretary (Health) emphasized that although sero-positivity rate is higher in NCR districts as compared to non-NCR districts, the reason for the same could be high density of population due to urban slums, high rises and daily movement of large population in the NCR region.

Urban Faridabad had the highest positivity rate at 31.1 per cent and 22.2 per cent in rural areas, while the positivity rate in urban and rural sections of Gurugram was at 18.5 per cent and 5.7 per cent respectively. Districts such as Nuh and Sonipat too recorded positivity rate in double digits.

In June, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) had advised states to conduct sero survey to assess the proportion of population, including asymptomatic patients, exposed to Covid-19.

Panipat (7.4 per cent), Palwal (7.4 per cent), Panchkula (6.5 per cent), and Jhajjar (5.9 per cent) were some of the districts which had lower sero-positivity than the state’s average.

Meanwhile, according to the union ministry of health, Haryana’s has registered over 70,000 Covid-19 cases so far. The total cases include 13470 active cases, nearly 56,000 recoveries and 740 deaths.

(With inputs from ANI)

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