The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) will test 400 serum samples randomly collected from residents of 10 places and their peripheries, affected by COVID-19, in Coimbatore district, to check for community spread of the disease. The serum samples will be subjected to an advanced antibody-based test, according to the Health Department.
Health Department sources said that a 12-member ICMR team, which is assisted by local healthcare professionals, took serum samples from 200 persons from five places: Avarampalayam, Pollachi, Mettupalayam, Vilankurichi, and Periyanaickenpalayam on Saturday.
On Sunday, the team will collect another set of 200 samples from five other places: Kuniyamuthur, Ganapathy, R.S. Puram, V. Chandrapuram near Sulthanpet, and Nallattipalayam.
An official from the Health Department said the ICMR team followed the methodology of collecting 40 random samples from four areas of each of the 10 places and that works out to 400 samples in total. The official added that the 400 serum samples will be sent to a laboratory in Chennai where they will be subjected to an advanced antibody-based testing, possibly using Chemiluminescence Immunoassay (CLIA) technology.
As on Sunday, Coimbatore district did not have any active case of COVID-19. The last set of COVID-19 cases reported in the district was on May 3 and the last patient left hospital after recovery on May 13.
Of the 146 people who tested positive for COVID-19 in Coimbatore district, 145 of them recovered from the disease while one person, who was also suffering from advanced stage of cancer, died in a hospital in Chennai.
