Himachal Pradesh: ICMR does third sero-survey in Kullu to check Covid community spread

MANALI: The Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) is conducting the third round of random sampling tests on people in the Kullu district, including health workers, to check community spread.

A team of ICMR is on a five-day visit to Kullu for the third round of serosurvey where samples are being collected randomly. A 16-member team, led by Dr. Nandan Kumar Mishra, will collect samples from 500 people, including 100 health workers. For this purpose, five teams have been formed which will collect samples through 10 clusters.

Dr. Nandan said 81 districts had been chosen for this survey in the country and Kullu district was picked in Himachal. “Before this, 400 samples each were collected in first and second surveys. No person was found positive for Covid-19 in the first survey, while two persons tested positive in the second survey. Now again, we have lifted 500 samples, of which 100 samples belong to health workers. This will help us collect accurate information about community spread,” he said. The report of the collected samples will come in 8-10 days. Dr. Nandan said he hoped people in Kullu were safe so far as there was the least possibility of community spread as Covid cases in the district were on the decline.