Sixth round of sero survey gets underway in Delhi

New Delhi: Amid an alarming rise in COVID-19 cases in Delhi, the sixth round of the serological survey, which seeks to find the prevalence of antibodies against coronavirus in people, got underway in the national capital on April 12.

People familiar with the matter said around 28,000 samples, about 100 from each of the 272 wards, will be collected as part of the exercise.  Delhi has a population of over 2 crore spread across 11 districts.

In the sixth round of the sero survey, the vaccination history of participants will also be taken, the people said.

The first sero survey was conducted by the Delhi government in association with the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) from June 27 to July 10 last year. As part of the exercise, 21,387 samples were collected and it was found that around 23% of the participants had been exposed to coronavirus.

The outcome of the fifth round of sero survey had found the prevalence of antibodies against coronavirus among over 50% population of the city.

As part of the survey that ended in January, samples were collected from over 25,000 people from various districts of the city.

The exercise was undertaken for a comprehensive assessment of the COVID-19 situation in Delhi and to formulate strategies based on their findings.

Delhi recorded its biggest daily rise of 10,774 COVID-19 cases on Sunday, prompting Kejriwal to issue a stark warning to residents that they should not step out of their homes unless it is urgent.

The fourth wave is more dangerous than the previous ones, he said during an online briefing on the COVID-19 situation in the city.