Sero survey to be held in Chhattisgarh amid rising COVID cases

Amid rising coronavirus cases in Chhattisgarh, a sero survey will be conducted in ten districts including Raipur to find out the status of "herd immunity", an official statement said on Wednesday.

The survey will be jointly conducted by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Regional Medical Research Centre (RMRC), Odisha and the state Health department, it said.

Sero survey involves testing of blood serum of people to check for the prevalence of antibodies against coronavirus infection.

The survey will be conducted in two development blocks of Raipur district from September 16 to 18, while in the other nine districts -- Bilaspur, Korba, Mungeli, Jashpur, Janjgir-Champa, Balrampur, Balodabazar, Rajnandgaon and Durg -- it will start from September 20.

Samples of 500 people will be collected in each of the ten districts to find out whether people in these areas have developed immunity against the viral infection, it said.

260 samples will be collected from among high-risk groups such as TB and HIV infected people, residents of containment zones, health personnel, security personnel, police, journalists, industrial personnel, drivers, bank staff, postmen, aviation workers, prison inmates, old age homes, orphanages, shops, hostels.

Besides, 240 samples will be collected from six selected clusters in each district, the release added.

All these samples will be tested for Antibody immunoglobuli G and M.

As of Tuesday, Chhattisgarh had reported 50,114 coronavirus cases.