BENGALURU: The State Government is planning to conduct a sero-survey to ascertain the immunity levels and prevalence of anti-bodies against Covid-19 in people.Speaking to reporters here on Tuesday, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Chief Commissioner Gaurav Gupta said discussions in this regard are still in the preliminary stage “We (BBMP) are also planning a similar survey in Bengaluru. But we will do it only if it is financially viable. The final decision rests with the government,” he added.
“It will be a sample-based model. The idea is to gauge the level of anti-bodies and immunity among people against Covid-19. This is being done for the first time by the government,” Gupta said. He said a paediatric committee will be constituted by the BBMP for better management of paediatric cases ahead of the possible third wave. “The details are being discussed… names are still being finalised,” he said, adding that work is also being done to assess the preparedness of hospitals ahead of the third wave of Covid-19.
The BBMP is also trying to assess the exact population of children in the city. “Children will not be impacted in the third wave if the adult population is vaccinated. Close to 50 per cent of the adult population in the city has received at least one dose of the vaccine. By July-end, we aim to increase it to 70 per cent,” Gupta said.More labs will be used for genome sequencing amid fears of the Delta-plus variant. The Delta variant was not just prominent in Bengaluru, but across the world, he pointed out.