Bhubaneswar: In the conclusive study of the first phase of serial sero-survey conducted by ICMR-RMRC, the capital city reported that only 1.4 per cent of all the persons have developed anti-bodies for the Covid-19 infection.
As per the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC), that assisted RMRC in the ongoing survey, a total 951 samples were collected at community level for the study in the first phase. “It has been found that community level exposure to SARS Cov 2 virus is relatively low with a pooled Sero-prevalence of 1.4 per cent. This implies that large-scale transmission has probably not occurred in the city,” a BMC official said.
However, the civic body cautioned citizen against the infection and stated that large majority of the population is still at high risk of exposure unless preventive methods are not followed. “Every citizen has a role to play in the fight against Covid-19,” said Municipal Commissioner, Prem Chandra Chaudhary.
Furthermore, post completion of first phase of serial sero-survey, the second phase sample collection of the first round is expected to be over by Friday. The second phase, survey by the RMRC teams is focused on sampling high risk groups which include doctors, police, journalists, street vendors and other sections. Meanwhile, the second round of survey will begin after 28 days of the first survey.
“Apart from sero-survey, the civic body is conducting rapid antigen tests with technical support from Health department. On Wednesday, samples were drawn from 55 media personnel for antigen test. The test results were found to be negative for all the samples,” a BMC official said.
PNN