Teams trained, massive Sero survey set to begin today

New Delhi: A serological survey to undertake a comprehensive analysis of COVID-19 in Delhi and prepare a broad strategy to combat the pandemic will be carried out in the national capital from Saturday, the Union Home Ministry has said, now that all teams to undertake the massive exercise have been trained accordingly.

The announcement came a day after Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla reviewed the implementation of various decisions on the coronavirus-related situation in Delhi, which were taken on June 21 in a meeting chaired by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

"As per the directives of HM @AmitShah, discussion was done on the serological survey in Delhi, which will be carried out jointly by NCDC and Delhi Government.

The home minister has already approved the combined use of 'Aarogya Setu' and 'Itihaas' apps as strong predictive tools for future detection of COVID-19 outbreaks in population clusters.

Training on the combined use of apps was imparted by National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) trainers to the district teams of the Delhi government on Thursday.

The home ministry had earlier said the serological survey will be done for all of Delhi between June 27-July 10 in which 20,000 people will be sample tested. The survey will be able to determine the prevalence of infection in the city and provide data for better containment measures.

Serology (antibody) tests are largely used for surveillance among the community. They can be used on people who have already been tested positive for the virus or even those who are asymptomatic and can reveal insights on immunity against coronavirus.