56.13% Delhiites developed antibodies against Covid: Jain

56.13% people in Delhi developed antibodies against Covid: Jain

The fifth serological survey has been completed in Delhi and the report shows 56.13 per cent of people have antibodies against Covid.

Health Minister of Delhi Satyendar Jain said on Tuesday this is the biggest serosurvey carried out by any state in the country, the Delhi government had collected 28000 samples with 100 samples each from all municipal wards.

Quoting the report, he said the least prevalence out of the 11 districts in Delhi was found in the North district, which stood at 49.09 per cent and the highest prevalence was in the South-East district, which stood at 62.18 per cent.

He urged the people to continue to wear masks and follow Covid Appropriate Behaviour (CAB), despite the low number of Corona cases and declining positivity rate.

Addressing a press conference on Tuesday, Jain said: “The Delhi Government began its serosurvey on January 15, which was completed on January 23. This was the biggest serosurvey that we had done, we had collected 28000 samples, with 100 samples each from all municipal wards. As far as the results are concerned, we have received the reports and around 56.13 per cent of the people have been found positive in the serosurvey, which means that they have antibodies inside them. These people have already recovered from the corona infection. The least prevalence out of the 11 districts in Delhi was found in the North district, which stood at 49.09 per cent. The highest prevalence was in the South-East district, which stood at 62.18 per cent.

“We can say antibodies have been found from 49.09 per cent to 62.18 per cent of people in Delhi, and the average percentage of people who have been found positive are 56.13 per cent. This is the biggest serosurvey in the country, no other state has conducted a serosurvey of this scale before. Our health department has worked day and night to carry out a survey of this scale. In the last serosurvey, the positivity rate was found out to be around 25-26 per cent, and this was the fifth serosurvey.”

“The cases have gone down considerably and have been lower than 200 since the last 10-12 days. The positivity rate is even lesser than 1 per cent since the last one month. I want to request you to please wear a mask, despite lower Corona cases, declining positivity rate, and lesser patients in hospitals.

“Please take care of Covid Appropriate Behaviour (CAB). In the last 3 months, the people of Delhi have behaved in a very careful and civilised manner. I can notice that people are following all Covid protocols and wearing masks, and they are required to do that as well as follow social distancing for a few more months,” he added.

Dr Nutan Mundeja, DGHS, said: “We have conducted this serosurvey along with Maulana Azad Medical College. All the district officials joined us in our efforts. We have used CLIA technology, which is a more sensitive technology than ELISA technology, and the samples have been tested at ILBS so that there is uniformity across the city.

“We have taken 100 samples from every type of population in each ward, and we have successfully been able to do it with the help of our health team and the ILBS team. This does not mean that we suddenly bring a change in our behavior with regards to Covid. Please maintain social distancing, wash your hands regularly and wear masks at all times.”