Lok Sabha Question No. 904 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-07-23
Subject: COVID-19 Sero survey
Ministry: HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
Asked by: Dhanush M Kumar, Vijay Kumar Dubey, Rebati Tripura, C.N. Annadurai, Gajanan Chandrakant Kirtikar, Ganesan Selvam, Gautham Sigamani Pon, Arvind Ganpat Sawant

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE

## LOK SABHA U NSTARRED QUES TION NO. 904 TO BE ANSWERED ON 23 RD JULY, 2021

## COVID - 19 SERO SURVEY

904. SHRI DHANUSH M. KUMA R:

SHRI VIJAY KUMAR DUB EY:

SHRI REBATI TRIPURA:

SHRI C.N. ANNADURAI:

SHRI GAJANAN KIRTIKA R:

SHRI SELVAM G.:

SHRI GAUTHAM SIGAMAN I PON:

SHRI ARVIND GANPAT S AWANT:

Will the Minister of HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE be pleased to state:

- (a)  whether  the  Government  is  planning  a  nationwide COVID - 19  sero  survey  to  determine  the prevalence of Coronavirus antibodies in the community and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) the details of States/Districts to be covered under Sero survey and the time by which it is likely be started and completed;
- (c)  whether  the  Government  has  also  asked  states  to c rry out  their  own  localised  surveillanc exercises to assess the prevalence and spread of infection and if so, the details thereof;
- (d) the details of the data of Sero Survey conducted so  far  along  with the total number of blood samples of individuals tested;
- (e) the outcome of the Sero Survey conducted till date and the action taken by the Government on th Sero Survey; and
- (f) the other steps taken by the Government to stop the spread of Corona Virus in the country?

## ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE (DR . BHARATI PRAVIN PAW AR )

- (a) & (b):    Four rounds of COVID - 19  National sero surveys have been conducted by ICMR to determine the prevalence of Coronavirus antibod ies. ICMR conducted the fourth round of COVID -19  National  sero  survey  between  14 th June,  2021  and  6 th July,  2021  to  estimate  sero  prevalence among children aged 6 -17 years, adults and health care workers. The survey was conducted i same 70 districts f rom 20 States and one Union Territory selected during the previous thre surveys. The details of districts and states are given in Annexure.
- (c):    Many states and cities have conducted sero surveys. Metropolitan cities such as De Pune, Chennai, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad have reported sero prevalence ranging between 17 and 56% at different time points.
- (d):   Details of four rounds of National sero survey conducted are as follows:

Care

Care

| Round        | Period                                      |   Enrollment (No. individuals) | of Population -weighted Sero prevalence                          |
|--------------|---------------------------------------------|--------------------------------|------------------------------------------------------------------|
| First Round  | 11 th May to 04 th June, 2020               |                          28000 | 0.73% General Population (adults)                                |
| Second Round | 17 th August to 22 nd September, 2020       |                          29082 | 6.6% General Population aged>=10years                            |
| Third Round  | 18 th December, 2020 to 06 th January, 2021 |                          35983 | 24.1% (General population aged>=10 years) 25.6% (Health Workers) |
| Fourth Round | 14 th June, 2021 to 06 th July, 2021        |                          36227 | 67.6% (General population aged>=6 years) 85.2% (Health Workers)  |

- (e):    The sero prevalence estimates from the surveys has helped to track the extent of infection in age groups and geographical locations (such as districts, rural/urban areas well as guide the response. The results of the sero survey  were w idely disseminated to the respective state and district authorities.
- (f):    Health is a state subject, Government of India has provided the required technic has also supported the States through logistic and financial support to further str engthen the existing health infrastructure.

Some of the ongoing initiatives include:

- Government of India, to supplement the hospital facilities has roped in tertiary ca under ESIC, Defence, Railways, paramilitary forces, Steel Ministry etc. Fu rther, many large temporary  treatment  facilities  were  established  by  DRDO  to  manage  surge  in  COVID - 19 cases in the country.
- Due to concerted actions of Central and State Governments, the isolation bed capa ICU bed capacity which was only 10,180 and 2,168 before the first lockdown (as on 23 rd March 2020) is being enhanced continuously and is currently at 18,21,845 isolation 1,22,035 ICU beds (as on 20 th July 2021).
- The daily liquid medical oxygen (LMO) production, which was about 5700 MTs per day in August  2020  increased  to  a  high  of  9690  MTs  as  on  13 th May  2021.  This  was  done  by enhancement of LMO production in steel plants as well as in other LMO plants.
- A system for real - time  monitoring  of  oxygen  production in steel plants and distribut ion of oxygen to States/UTs was also put in place. Restrictions were imposed on industri oxygen.
- A dynamic and transparent framework for allocation of medical oxygen in consultati States/UTs  and  all  the  stakeholders  such  as  relevant  Minis tries,  manufacturers/suppliers  of liquid oxygen etc. has been prepared.
- Online  digital  solutions  viz.  Oxygen  Demand  Aggregation  system  (ODAS)  and  Oxyge Digital Tracking System (ODTS) have been developed to ascertain the demand for me oxygen from all medical facilities and to track their transportation.
- In order to avoid wastage of medical oxygen, guidelines on rational use of oxygen we on 25 th September 2020, and further revised and disseminated to States on 25 th April 2021.
- 1,02,400 oxygen cylinders were procured in April and May of 2020 and distributed to S Further orders for additional 1,27,000 cylinders have been placed on 21 st April 2021, (54,000 jumbo cylinders (D type) and 73,000 regular cylinders (B type). Deliveries of the e have started and 24,207 (24,511 B - type and 8,893 D - type) cylinders have been delivered as on 7 th July 2021. In addition, around 4962 B - type and 1895 D - type cylinders are in - tra sit.
- To generate oxygen at the health facility level, PSA plants are being established in hospitals, especially in far flung areas enabling the hospitals to become self - sufficient in generation of oxygen for their needs and thereby, reduce the burden on the medical oxygen supp across the country.
- Further, to fast - track the availability of Medical Oxygen in rural and peri - urban areas, more than 18,000 Oxygen Concentrators have been allocated to various States.
- Remdesivir manufacturing capacity was augmented from 38 lakh vials per month to n 122 lakh vials per month. In addition, 40 additional manufacturing sites were approved by Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO), thus increasing the manufact sites from 22 to 62.
- All States/UT and State Drugs Controllers have been requested to verify stock of t he drug and check other malpractices and take effective steps to curb hoarding and black mar Remdesivir.
- States are supported by providing free vaccine doses for coverage of vulnerable p 18+ population.
- Ministry of Health & Family Welfa re continues to provide technical guidance for managi various aspects of COVID - 19.  So  far  more  than  150  guidelines/advisories/SoPs/plans  h been provided to States/UTs.
- 'India  COVID19  Emergency  Response  and  Health  System  Preparedness  package'  and  Rs 15,000 Cr was provided under the package in April 2020 with an objective to preven and respond to the threat posed by COVID - 19.
- In addition, 'India COVID - 19 Emergency Response & Health System Preparedness Package: Phase II' has also been approved by the Cabinet with Rs 23,123 crores (with Rs. 15,000 Cr Central Component & Rs 8,123 as State component) and is to be implemented from 1 st July 2021  to  31 st March  2022.  It  includes  support  to  State/UT  level  for  ramping  up  H Infrastructure including those in rural, tribal and peri - urban  areas  closer  to  the  community, providing support for procurement of drugs and diagnostics to enhance service del district and sub district levels for management of COVID - 19 cases (including pediatric care) and for maintaining a buffer of drugs, support for IT Interventions such as impleme Hospital Management Information System and expanding access to tele -consultations in all districts,  and  support  for  capacity  building  and  training  for  all  aspects  of management  of COVID - 19.
- India had only one facility at Pune to do the testing in January 2020, with test, t as the objective. The testing network has been enhanced to 2764 testing centre (Go - 1291, Private - 1473) as on 21 st July 2021.
- The Availability of Indigenous COVID testing kits have been enhanced and till date have been validated by ICMR with 505 indigenous kits approved for testing.
- Under  'Mission  COVID  Suraksha - the  Indian  COVID -19  Vaccine  Development  Mission', being  impleme nted  by  Biotechnology  Industry  Research  Assistance  Council  (BIRAC), Public  Sector  Undertaking  (PSU)  of  Department  of  Biotechnology  (DBT),  5  vacc candidates  in  advanced  stages  of  development  are  being  supported.  All  vaccines development  and  manuf acturing  are  also  being  studied  for  effectiveness  against  eme Variants  of  Concern  (VOCs).  Further,  facility  augmentation  and  technology  trans augmented production of Covaxin are also being supported.

Annexure

List of district and states -Fourth national sero survey June2020 - July2021

|   S.No | Name ofthedistrict        | State            |
|--------|---------------------------|------------------|
|      1 | Vizianagaram              | ANDHRA PRADESH   |
|      2 | Krishna                   | ANDHRA PRADESH   |
|      3 | SriPottiSriramulu Nellore | ANDHRA PRADESH   |
|      4 | KarbiAnglong              | ASSAM            |
|      5 | Kamrup Metropolitan       | ASSAM            |
|      6 | Udalguri                  | ASSAM            |
|      7 | Madhubani                 | BIHAR            |
|      8 | Purnia                    | BIHAR            |
|      9 | Muzaffarpur               | BIHAR            |
|     10 | Begusarai                 | BIHAR            |
|     11 | Buxar                     | BIHAR            |
|     12 | Arwal                     | BIHAR            |
|     13 | Kabeerdham                | CHHATTISGARH     |
|     14 | Bijapur                   | CHHATTISGARH     |
|     15 | Surguja                   | CHHATTISGARH     |
|     16 | SabarKantha               | GUJARAT          |
|     17 | Narmada                   | GUJARAT          |
|     18 | Mahisagar                 | GUJARAT          |
|     19 | Kurukshetra               | HARYANA          |
|     20 | Kullu                     | HIMACHAL PRADESH |
|     21 | Pulwama                   | JAMMU & KASHMIR  |
|     22 | Pakur                     | JHARKHAND        |
|     23 | Latehar                   | JHARKHAND        |
|     24 | Simdega                   | JHARKHAND        |
|     25 | Chitradurga               | KARNATAKA        |
|     26 | Bangalore                 | KARNATAKA        |
|     27 | Gulbarga                  | KARNATAKA        |
|     28 | Palakkad                  | KERALA           |
|     29 | Thrissur                  | KERALA           |
|     30 | Ernakulam                 | KERALA           |
|     31 | Gwalior                   | MADHYA PRADESH   |
|     32 | Ujjain                    | MADHYA PRADESH   |
|     33 | Dewas                     | MADHYA PRADESH   |
|     34 | Nanded                    | MAHARASHTRA      |
|     35 | Parbhani                  | MAHARASHTRA      |
|     36 | Bid                       | MAHARASHTRA      |
|     37 | Ahmadnagar                | MAHARASHTRA      |
|     38 | Jalgaon                   | MAHARASHTRA      |
|     39 | Sangli                    | MAHARASHTRA      |

|   40 | Ganjam                   | ODISHA        |
|------|--------------------------|---------------|
|   41 | Rayagada                 | ODISHA        |
|   42 | Koraput                  | ODISHA        |
|   43 | Gurdaspur                | PUNJAB        |
|   44 | Jalandhar                | PUNJAB        |
|   45 | Dausa                    | RAJASTHAN     |
|   46 | Jalor                    | RAJASTHAN     |
|   47 | Rajsamand                | RAJASTHAN     |
|   48 | Chennai                  | TAMIL NADU    |
|   49 | Tiruvannamalai           | TAMIL NADU    |
|   50 | Coimbatore               | TAMIL NADU    |
|   51 | Nalgonda                 | TELANGANA     |
|   52 | Jangoan                  | TELANGANA     |
|   53 | Kamareddy                | TELANGANA     |
|   54 | Saharanpur               | UTTAR PRADESH |
|   55 | Jyotiba PhuleNagar       | UTTAR PRADESH |
|   56 | Gautam Buddha Nagar      | UTTAR PRADESH |
|   57 | Bareilly                 | UTTAR PRADESH |
|   58 | Unnao                    | UTTAR PRADESH |
|   59 | Auraiya                  | UTTAR PRADESH |
|   60 | Balrampur                | UTTAR PRADESH |
|   61 | Gonda                    | UTTAR PRADESH |
|   62 | Mau                      | UTTAR PRADESH |
|   63 | Garhwal                  | UTTARAKHAND   |
|   64 | Bankura                  | WEST BENGAL   |
|   65 | SouthTwenty FourParganas | WEST BENGAL   |
|   66 | PurbaMedinipur           | WEST BENGAL   |
|   67 | Jhargram                 | WEST BENGAL   |
|   68 | Alipurduar               | WEST BENGAL   |
|   69 | Patiala                  | PUNJAB        |
|   70 | Ludhiana                 | PUNJAB        |