Second serosurvey in Chennai by Sept. end

‘Seroprevalence likely to be around 40%’

Health workers take blood sample for a serological survey. Photo used for representation purpose only. File

The Greater Chennai Corporation will conduct a second serosurvey in the city in the last week of September.

Corporation Commissioner G. Prakash said Chennai would be the first city to conduct a study of T cells in recovered COVID-19 patients, in addition to the serosurvey. “The T-cell study will be for academic purposes. T cells play a role in immune response in COVID-19 patients, in addition to the antibodies,” said an official.

Seroprevalence in the city is expected to be around 40%, said Mr. Prakash.

According to the earlier survey, seroprevalence of the infection was higher among women in the city, with 23.7% of the 6,493 women exposed to COVID-19, two months ago. It also pointed out that 19.3% of men were exposed to the infection in the city.

The survey will assess seroprevalence of COVID-19 among residents aged over 10, in the city’s 15 zones.

Corporation officials at the zonal level said that the number of cases had not increased after relaxation in lockdown norms, pointing to a development of herd immunity among the city residents.

The number of cases, however, has been high in Kodambakkam zone. Anna Nagar too has reported a high number of COVID-19 cases.

The case fatality rate has come down to 1.99% in the city. Tiruvottiyur zone has registered the highest case fatality rate in the city.

The Corporation has directed officials to start taking initiatives to protect the livelihood of street vendors and traders. More than 12,000 street vendors are yet to get financial assistance from the government. The major reason behind the delay is that civic officials do not have bank account details of the vendors. Many of their accounts have not been active due to the stringent regulations in banks, pertaining to minimum balance. Many of the vendors have also stopped business and left the city.

Meanwhile, conservancy workers staged a protest in Ambattur on Thursday after several workers were punished for participating in a protest, demanding better wages, a few days ago. The new conservancy operator will start work in October.