Bhubaneswar: Sero-survey for COVID-19 will begin in the Odisha Capital in the area under the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) from July 1, informed Additional Chief Secretary Pradipta Mohapatra today.
In addition to the BMC area, the survey will be also undertaken from July 1 in Ganjam, Gajapati, and Narsinghpur area of Cuttack district, Mohapatra added.
The Additional Chief Secretary further informed that the survey is already underway in Puri since Saturday.
On being asked about the availability of Remdesivir and Fabiflu drugs used in treatment of COVID-19 patients, Mohapatra revealed that Remdesivir stock has been already received and that of Fabiflu will reach today.
“These two drugs are needed for COVID-19 patients. These drugs will be administered to critical patients wherever needed,” he pointed out.
The recent spike in COVID-19 positive cases in the State has prompted the government to go for The surge in Covid-19 cases has prompted Odisha Government to go for sero-survey of people to ascertain the extent of spread of the virus in the hotspots.
Sero-survey involves testing blood serum for antibodies which will help determine if a person is COVID-19 infected and has had any such infections in the past.
The survey helps in understanding the proportion of the population exposed to infection with COVID-19 including asymptomatic persons.
This helps in determining appropriate public health interventions for the prevention and control of the disease.
P.K. Mohapatra, Addl. CS, Health Dept., Odisha
