Coronavirus Serological Survey: 29.1 per cent people have developed antibodies in Delhi

A total of 29.1 per cent people in the national capital have developed anti-bodies against COVID-19, according to the second serological survey conducted earlier this month.

"The second serological survey which was conducted between 1-7 August shows that 29.1 per cent of people have developed antibodies against COVID-19. A total of 15,000 samples were collected during the survey," said Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain.

According to the Health Minister, if Delhi's population is considered to be 2 crore, then about 58 lakh people have developed antibodies and they have recovered. The North East district has shown 29 per cent, South 27 per cent while South East has shown 33 per cent prevalence of anti-bodies in the survey.

A release in this regard said the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi had commissioned a follow-up sero survey for evaluation of the prevalence and trends of the SARS-CoV-2 infection in the general population of Delhi.

"The sero Survey applied a repeated cross-sectional study design, and the first round was conducted in the first week of August 2020. The other two rounds are scheduled in the first weeks of September and October 2020," the release said.

The survey was planned by the Government of NCT Delhi with technical support of Maulana Azad Medical College (MAMC), New Delhi and the sample size for the survey was calculated as 15000 (calculated using expected prevalence of the SARS-CoV-2-infection as 23.48 per cent based on NCDC Delhi serosurvey, 95 per cent confidence levels, 1 per cent absolute precision for increased accuracy in the first round).

"The serosurvey has been implemented across all the 11 districts with the number of participants selected as per the population allocation to the size sampling method both at the district and ward level," the release informed.

As per the release, the sample was stratified at the health facility level as per age strata of <18, 18-49, >50 years in the proportion of 25 per cent, 50 per cent and 25 per cent respectively.

"It has been taken care that any individual who was part of the previous round of the serosurvey is not been included in the current or forthcoming round of the sero survey," the release said.

(ANI)

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