Serosurvey to begin in Gzb from August 28; 1,080 samples to be collected

Ghaziabad: With the Uttar Pradesh government giving its nod to conduct the serological survey starting from August 28, the Ghaziabad health department has been gearing up with preparations and are identifying clusters from where samples will be collected. Officials said that around 10 teams have been formed to collect random samples of people between the age group of 18-59 years only.

Ghaziabad district is one among the eleven districts of Uttar Pradesh which have been identified by the state government where serological survey will be conducted. According to a senior officer from district health department, 10 teams have been formed and each team include a doctor, an ASHA worker, an ANM and a lab technician for the purpose.

"We are making arrangements for the sero surveillance and identifying teams for the purpose. A total of 45 clusters have been identified and as many as 1,080 samples will be collected from Ghaziabad. Along with the coronavirus, the teams will also collect samples for Hepatitis B and C viruses," said a senior official

Official figures have showed that people aged below 18 years and those over 59 years account for about 19% of the total Covid-19 cases in Ghaziabad. The government order has included age group 18-59 years for the survey.

However, there is no specific reason given why the remaining age group is not included.