A look at serological surveys conducted in Delhi

Delhi’s first serological survey was done in the city in June-July and it had shown that 23.4% of people surveyed had developed antibodies against the virus. Similar surveys in August showed that 29.1% of people had antibodies and 25.1% in September.

The fifth serological survey has found as many as 56.13 per cent of the 28,000 people sampled in Delhi developed antibodies against coronavirus and indicated that the national capital, which has a population of 20 million, is fast moving towards herd immunity. "In the fifth sero survey done in the national Capital, antibodies have been detected in 56.13% of the population. This was the largest survey conducted by the Delhi government so far. Delhi has largely won over Covid-19, but we should continue to practise Covid-19 appropriate behaviour," Delhi health minister Satyendar Jain said after the report was published.

Health minister of Delhi Satyendar Jain addresses during a press conference, in New Delhi. (PTI)

Delhi’s first serological survey was done in the city in June-July and it had shown that 23.4% of people surveyed had developed antibodies against the virus. Similar surveys in August showed that 29.1% of people had antibodies and 25.1% in September.

What did the fifth serological survey find?

The survey was conducted between January 15 and January 23 and at least 100 samples were collected from each of the 272 municipal wards of Delhi. CLIA technology was used for the survey and all the samples were tested at the ILBS hospital to ensure uniformity. The highest seroprevalence was recorded in the southeast district with 62.18% of the sampled people having antibodies against the virus. Data showed that except the north district, all the other 10 districts in Delhi had a seroprevalence of more than 50%. Of these 10, six had a seroprevalence of more than 55%.

What did the fourth serological survey say?

The fourth survey showed that around one in four of the 15,000 people had acquired antibodies against coronavirus. The report also showed that a large proportion (43.5%) of people who had previously been diagnosed with Covid-19 did not have antibodies. Authors of the report, however, said that this was because antibodies take time to develop after contracting the infection.

Delhi on Monday recorded 3 deaths due to the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), the national capital's lowest fatality count in 10 months. The positivity rate in the city stood at 0.28 per cent. Meanwhile, the number of Covid-19 cases recorded in Delhi stood at 121 on Monday, according to health bulletin released by the authorities. With this, the national capital's tally reached 6,35,217, the health department said.