COVID-19: Sero positivity highest in districts bordering Delhi

NCR districts like Faridabad and Gurgaon had high seropositivity rates.
A health worker returns after taking a nasal swab sample to test for COVID-19 in New Delhi, India, Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2020. (Photo | AP)
A health worker returns after taking a nasal swab sample to test for COVID-19 in New Delhi, India, Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2020. (Photo | AP)

CHANDIGARH:  Antibodies against the Covid- 19 infections were found in eight per cent of people in the sero-survey conducted in Haryana last month and those living in urban areas and NCR districts were found more affected, Health Minister Anil Vij said on Friday.

NCR districts like Faridabad and Gurgaon had high seropositivity rates. It was 25.8 per cent in Faridabad, the highest in the state, followed by Nuh at over 20 per cent and Sonipat at 13.3 per cent, according to the survey. Urban Faridabad had the highest positivity rate at 31.1 per cent and 22.2 per cent in rural areas, while Nuh had 30.3 per cent positivity in urban areas and 13.9 per cent in rural.

The positivity rate was 18.5 per cent in urban Gurgaon and 5.7 per cent in rural segments of the district. As many as 850 samples each were collected from 22 districts and the collection was done both in urban and rural areas. Overall, 18,905 samples were collected and the study showed that the sero-positivity of SARS-CoV-2, is eight per cent, Vij said.

He said that the urban population was affected more than the rural population. The sero-positivity observed that in urban areas the rate is 9.59 per cent and in rural areas it is 6.9 per cent, said Vij. The survey was done to gauge the penetration and monitor its transmission trend. The ICMR had advised states in June to conduct the survey to assess the proportion of population, including asymptomatic individuals, exposed to the virus.

Higher sero-positivity than the state average was recorded in districts like Karnal 12.2 per cent , Jind (11 per cent), Kurukshetra (8.7 per cent), Charkhi Dadri (8.3 per cent) and Yamunanagar (8.3 per cent), as per the survey findings. Districts of Haryana which had lower sero-positivity than the average include Panipat (7.4 per cent), Palwal (7.4 per cent), Panchkula (6.5 percent), Jhajjar (5.9 per cent), Ambala (5.2 per cent), Rewari (4.9 per cent), Sirsa (3.6 per cent), Hisar (3.4 percent), Bhiwani (3.2 percent), Mahendragarh (2.8 percent) and Kaithal (1 .7 percent). Rajeev Arora, Additional Chief Secretary (Health) said, “It also shows citizens’ compliance to Covid appropriate behaviours like physical distancing, following good hand hygiene and coughing etiquettes etc,’ he said.

Related Stories

No stories found.
The New Indian Express
www.newindianexpress.com