A five day long serological survey was started in Berhampur Municipal Corporation (BeMC) area in Odisha’s Ganjam district to analyse extent and penetration of COVID19 infection.

Regional Medical Research Centre (RMRC) with support of BeMC has taken up this serological surveillance in the city.

According to BeMC commissioner, Chakravarti Singh Rathore, the primary objective of this serological study is to get an overall idea about prevalence of antibodies against COVID-19 among the residents of Berhampur.

The first round of survey in Bhubaneswar has found 1.4 per cent of people have developed antibodies. Strangely the sero survey was delayed in Berhampur which is the COVID hotspot of the state.

Official sources at Berhampur serological survey will be conducted in 40 wards of BeMC area till August 7. Five teams comprising personnel of RMRC and BeMC started the survey process from Monday.

These teams will collect blood samples of 2,500 citizens of Berhampur for analysis. Out of them 1,000 residents will be from high risk categories, while the other 1,500 blood samples will be collected randomly.

The collected blood samples will be sent to RMRC, Bhubaneswar for tests. People of Berhampur were seen to be volunteering to reach camps across the city for this serological survey. The same survey will be conducted in the city after a gap of one month with collection of 2500 more blood samples for serological analysis.

Jaisen Khatri, a scientist of RMRC involved in the serological survey in Berhampur told newsmen that this survey will help in assessing the immunity status in the community level against COVID-19 as well as the level of exposure to corona virus in the region.

Antibody response in an individual to COVID-19 infection is revealed through the serological test. Antibodies against COVID-19 are produced in the body of an infected person over days to weeks after infection of corona virus.

The survey is targeted to test antibody seropositivity in a population of Berhampur, a major red zone in Ganjam, the most COVID-19 pandemic district in Odisha. It can put light on extent of infection in the population of the region.

Ganjam has reported the highest number of COVID-19 positive cases as well as deaths related to it. Its tally of positive cases reached 11,323, with addition of 331 new positive cases on Monday.

Till now 106 persons of the district have died due to the disease. At present 3,686 positive persons of Ganjam are undergoing treatment, while 7,524 have recovered from the disease.