A total of 27.7 percent of the people in Punjab’s containment zones are found to be positive for COVID-19 antibodies, indicating that they have already been infected and recovered from the novel coronavirus.
The findings of Punjab’s first exclusive sero-survey, conducted in five containment zones from August 1 to 17 among a systematically-selected random sample population of 1,250 people, were submitted to the Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh during a COVID-19 review meeting on Thursday.
It showed SARS-CoV2 antibodies prevalence in the containment zones to be the highest at 40 per cent in Amritsar district, followed by 35.6 percent in Ludhiana, 33.2 percent in SAS Nagar (Mohali), 19.2 percent in Patiala district, and 10.8 percent in Jalandhar.
The earlier surveys were more generalized and were conducted by the State Government in coordination with Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). Sero survey is a more focused population-based testing of high and low-risk groups in select districts, being done in addition to routine testing.
The survey report came on the day when Delhi released its second Sero Survey findings, which showed nearly 29 percent sero-prevalence in the national capital.
For this exclusive Punjab survey, the selected containment zones, which had reported the highest number of COVID-19 cases, were located, one each in Patiala, SAS Nagar, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, and Amritsar districts.
The sample included 250 people from each zone, and from each of the selected households, one adult above the age of 18 was randomly chosen for the survey.
Overall, the sero-prevalence of SARS CoV-2 antibodies was found to be 27.8 percent in the containment zones where the highest number of COVID-19 cases had been reported. However, in the remaining parts of the cities, prevalence of SARS CoV-2 would be lower, and in the rural areas, the prevalence would be much lower than the urban areas, as per the report of the survey, which was aimed at finding out the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies (IgM/IgG) using Rapid Antibody Testing kits.
Giving details, the state government’s Health Advisory Expert Group head Dr KK Talwar said that a team of trained Field Assistants and Laboratory Technicians collected the data under the supervision of a Medical Officer. ASHA or ANM facilitated the survey by identifying the households in the zone.
After explaining the purpose of survey, written informed consent was obtained. After the interview, Laboratory Technician collected venous blood sample under aseptic conditions.
The blood samples were taken to the district public health laboratory for testing where rapid antibody tests were performed.
The facility-oriented surveillance survey, involving testing of blood serum of a group of individuals and used to monitor trends in prevalence of novel coronavirus infection, is an expansion of the testing of flu and serious respiratory cases in hospitals being carried out by the government.