Even though UT Administrator VP Singh Badnore had directed to conduct serosurvey to check the penetration and transmission trends of Covid-19 pandemic, the Chandigarh administration has no plans to follow through.
Earlier, a report by experts on the outbreak of Covid-19 in Bapu Dham Colony had also suggested a similar exercise after seeking permission from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). The recommendation has not been implemented so far.
Even the ICMR had asked states and Union territories to conduct a survey of high-risk or vulnerable populations (health-care workers, frontline workers, immune-compromised individuals, security staff, prisoners) to know who was infected in the past and has now recovered.
In this type of test, the blood samples are analysed for antibodies to detect and quantify antibodies in the blood that will determine a past infection due to the virus.
UT health secretary Arun Kumar Gupta said, “There is no plan of conducting serosurvey in Chandigarh for now.”
Requesting anonymity senior health officials said that since the pandemic is on the upswing and the health-care workers are busy dealing with Covid-19 patients, it is not suitable for them to divert more workforce towards the survey.
{{/usCountry}}Requesting anonymity senior health officials said that since the pandemic is on the upswing and the health-care workers are busy dealing with Covid-19 patients, it is not suitable for them to divert more workforce towards the survey.
{{/usCountry}}“If the survey is conducted and a certain percentage of people already have antibodies, what change will it bring in our mitigation strategy? It will serve no purpose,” a senior health official said.
Mohali (in containment zones) and Panchkula are among other districts where serosurveys have been conducted by the governments of Punjab and Haryana.