Covid-19: Health dept to collect samples from 75 clusters for third sero survey

The survey is likely to be held in the last week of August. Staff will receive training for the same this week, said officials

For the third round of the statewide serological survey to detect the prevalence of Covid-19 infection, the district health department on Tuesday prepared a micro plan for Gurugram and submitted it to the state health department. The date for the survey is yet to be announced by the state but it can be expected to be held in the last week of August, officials said on Tuesday.

Around 3,000 samples are to be collected from Gurugram for the statewide serological survey. (Vipin Kumar/HT PHOTO)

“The plan is to conduct a survey for three days in 75 clusters. Since the sample size is 3,000, as fixed by the state health department, our teams will cover 25 clusters in a day across identified urban and rural areas. From each cluster, at least 40 samples will be collected,” Dr Virender Yadav, chief medical officer for Gurugram said, explaining the plan.

According to Yadav, at least 45 samples will be collected from rural areas and 30 from urban areas.The areas shortlisted for the same are Jharsa, Islampur and Shivaji Nagar, among others, in urban pockets and Daulatabad, Wazirabad, Budhera and Manesar in rural pockets.

“For every cluster, a team of three people will be assigned, which will include a medical officer, lab technician and Auxiliary Nurse Midwife (ANM). Also, there will be 12 supervisors to handle 75 ground teams,” said Yadav.

The age-wise population to be covered under the survey will be revealed during a training session for health workers that is likely to be conducted at the end of the week by the state team.

In the serological survey, blood samples are collected to check the prevalence of antibodies developed against Covid-19 infection. In the last two serological surveys held in 2020, the samples were tested in Gurugram and the results were shared with the state health team. However, Yadav said that this time, the samples will be sent directly to the state in all likelihood.

Across the state, the survey will be done among 36,520 participants. According to Yadav, it will be done next week and will be spread across two to three days. The highest number of samples will be collected from Gurugram, while only 800 samples will be taken from Palwal, which has the lowest case count in the state.