ONGOLE: Authorities of Prakasam district have started another sero survey in the district to determine the extent of the spread of coronavirus, said health officials. For the survey, which also aims at analysing the impact of the ongoing vaccination drive, the health officials are collecting blood samples from the general public, frontline workers who took the first vaccine dose, and also those who have taken both the doses.
A total of 165 teams are deployed to collect the samples from 3,800 persons. The survey has already been completed in Ongole division, and it is underway in Kandukur and Markapur divisions.The protocol followed for the current round demands that the teams collect 2,400 samples from areas that have primary health centres, 1,200 from urban localities, the remaining 200 from the frontline workers.
“The four-day survey to analyse the presence of antibodies, and the vaccination effect on people will be carried out in the district. We started the survey two days ago as it will help us understand the efficacy of the vaccine. After all the 3,800 samples are collected, they will be sent to the biochemistry lab in Ongole,” district medical and health officer (DMHO) Dr P Ratnavali told TNIE on Sunday.
Meanwhile, in view of the rapid increase in Covid-19 cases, District Collector Pola Bhaskar sought formation of a district-level taskforce committee with 26 members that will review the health situation every Monday and Thursday. To be chaired by Joint Collector TC Chetan, the district-level taskforce committee will monitor the preparedness of hospitals to deal with Covid cases. The committee will review the coordination between the ‘108’ and ‘104’ help desks.