Cuttack: A four-day serological survey began in Cuttack on Monday to detect the presence of antibodies against Covid-19 among the citizens of the Millennium City. After Berhampur and Bhubaneswar, Cuttack is the third city in Odisha where sero surveillance is being held for the first time.
The assessment will be conducted in a phase manner. In the first segment, sample collection will be conducted from 25 wards of the city during which 60 to 70 samples will be collected from each ward. The identity of the survey participants will be kept anonymous.
A joint team of Regional Medical Research Centre (RMRC) in association with Cuttack Municipal Corporation (CMC) members, including--ward officers, health workers, NSS volunteers, Anganwadi workers and sanitary inspectors--began the collection of samples at 9 AM today which will continue till 5 pm.
"A ward committee comprising ASHA, ANM and Angawadi workers was formed, who convinced the residents to participate in the survey. We started collecting the samples at 9 AM. People are responding positively to the serological survey and coming forward to give samples as per the time slots allotted to them," said the ward officer of Ward No.12 in Alisha Bazaar.
The survey samples are being collected from one member of a family above 18-years of age. Pregnant women have been exempted from the test.
Till Sunday, Cuttack city reported 14893 cases which included 810 active cases, 14,015 recoveries and 68 deaths.
(Edited By Rashmi Ranjan Mohanty)