Misbah Ali

The Indian government on July 28, 2021 advised all states and Union Territories (UT) to conduct State-specific Sero Surveys in consultation with Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

The findings would guide formulation of localised Public Health Responses for COVID-19 management.

“The Union Government has advised all States/UTs to conduct sero-prevalence surveys in consultation with ICMR to generate district-level data on sero-prevalence which is essential in formulating localised public health response measures,” the letter stated.

The Indian Health Ministry referred to the findings of the 4th round of National Sero-Prevalence Survey done by ICMR.

“The Union Health Ministry has referred to the findings of the 4th round of National Sero-Prevalence Survey done by ICMR and has advised the states to conduct the sero-prevalence studies in their own states and UTs in consultation with ICMR, so that such studies follow a standardised protocol, and the findings of such studies can then be utilised quickly by the respective State and UT to guide objective, transparent and evidence-based public health response to COVID-19,” the letter added.

The government further said that ICMR has conducted the recent National Sero-survey in 70 districts of India.

It added that the national sero-survey by ICMR was designed to capture the extent of the spread of COVID infection at the national level. Therefore, its results do not reflect the heterogeneity of sero-prevalence between districts and even between States.