Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has decided to ascertain the immune strength of the people against COVID-19 by launching a serology survey.
The serological survey will begin from Puri on Saturday, Additional Chief Secretary (Health and Family Welfare) P.K. Mohapatra was quote as telling PTI.
The study will also be conducted in districts with high COVID-19 cases such as Ganjam, Gajapati, Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation jurisdiction (258), and in parts of Cuttack district. “The serology survey will start in these places from July 1,” Mohapatra told PTI.
The serology test is the scientific study of serum and other body fluids. It identifies antibodies in the serum of human beings.
Meanwhile, the COVID-19 tally in Odisha went up to 6180 on Friday with 218 new cases being reported from 21 districts in the last 24 hours.
According to a tweet by the I &PR Department, 198 of these cases have been detected in the quarantine centres while the remaining 20 are local contacts.
Ganjam recorded the highest of 49 cases followed by Jagatsinghpur (29), Gajapati (27), Bhadrak (25), Khurda (17), Sundargarh (11), Puri (10), Mayurbhanj (9), Balasore (7), Kendrapada (6), Cuttack (5), Jharsuguda (4), two each of Nuapada, Keonjhar and Sambalpur, and one each of Nabarangpur, Angul, Kandhamal, Jajpur, Boudh and Koraput.
Besides, seven NDRF personnel, who had returned to the state after Amphan duty in West Bengal, have also tested positive for the virus.
With 15 deaths and 4291 recoveries, Odisha now has 1865 active cases.
Odisha Governor Ganesh Lal reviewed the COVID situation and lauded the government’s corona management strategy.
“Odisha has taken timely action by upgrading health infrastructure to meet the challenges of the pandemic. Involvement of gram panchayats also helped contain the spread of the virus,” a Raj Bhavan official said quoting the governor.
