As Covid-19 cases continue to surge in the neighboring state of Maharashtra, the Karnataka government has undertaken a slew of measures, including a serological survey of children. The meeting of the Covid Experts committee has discussed the prevailing situation and suggested making masks compulsory, implementing guidelines, and conducting genomic sequencing tests.
Experts have also suggested increasing the number of Covid-19 tests and to keep a strict vigil on international passengers, sources in the state health department told the news agency IANS on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the Karnataka health department has confirmed that it has started the third round of the serological survey of children between 6 to 14 years across the state since they are a largely unvaccinated group. The blood samples of 5,072 children are being collected. Through this survey, the possibility of a fourth wave of coronavirus infection and its impact on children will be known.
The samples of children who have not taken the Covid vaccination are collected. Two ml of blood and swabs from the nose and throat are also collected. The examination of these samples will help understand whether children have natural immunity or have developed antibodies against the coronavirus due to infection.
“The survey is planned to be conducted in all the 30 districts, including the eight zones of the civic body Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), with a total of 5,072 participants from both urban and rural areas. Nasopharyngeal and oropharyngeal swabs will be collected along with 2 ml of venous blood from all willing participants,” the department said.
The survey will tell the impact of the Covid-19 in the possible fourth wave. It was predicted that children would be most affected in the third wave. However, the survey conducted on the Covid-19’s Omicron variant did not show any impact on kids.
The special teams have been formed to conduct serological surveys at district and taluk levels of the state. The samples would be collected and monitored by pediatricians. The team will also comprise experts from Integrated Counselling and Testing Center (ICTC) and lab technicians. A web-based application is developed to collect and store data.
Karnataka reported 230 new Covid cases in the last 24 hours and the positivity rate has jumped to 1.92 per cent. The active cases tally in the state has risen to 2,441 in the state.
‘No Need to Panic’
Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai had indicated that his government will take a decision on imposing certain Covid control measures in a couple of days, aimed at containing the uptick in daily cases. The Chief Minister, however, said that there is no need for any unnecessary panic or worry, as the government has already put in place certain regulatory measures.
Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru on June 6, he said, “There is no need for anyone to have any unnecessary worry about Covid, we have already taken measures to control it, there is no need for anyone to panic.”
(with inputs from agencies)
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