HOW IS IT DONE?

A serological survey includes IgG Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) test. It estimates the proportion of the population exposed to Sars-Cov-2 infection.

The IgG test is not useful for detecting acute infections but it indicates episodes of infections that has happened in the past. The test is approved by ICMR for its high sensitivity and specificity.

Five millilitres of blood sample is collected from the subjects and then put in a machine where blood and plasma are separated. The plasma is then used to detect antibodies developed against Covid-19 in the body.

NEW DELHI

NEW DELHI: 

With Army chief General M M Naravane briefing the top political leadership about the operational situation in eastern Ladakh, the defence establishment is reasonably confident that its “total combat potential” now deployed in the region will deter any offensive thrust or major misadventure from China.

Naravane is learned to have briefed PM Narendra Modi on Thursday after returning from his visit to forward areas in eastern Ladakh, which was followed by another meeting with defence minister Rajnath Singh on Friday.

‘PLA unlikely to risk an all-out offensive’

The assessment as of now is that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) is “unlikely to risk an all-out offensive” despite all its muscle-flexing by amassing troops and heavy weaponry along the unresolved Line of Actual Control (LAC), especially in the strategically located Daulat Beg Oldie (DBO)-Depsang area, sources said.

With India too deploying thousands of additional troops backed by tanks, infantry combat vehicles and howitzers in the region, and IAF fighters like Sukhoi-30 MKIs and MiG-29s regularly patrolling the skies, “criticalities in full operational preparedness” that existed before have been plugged. “We are well-poised in the forward areas with a strong military posture, with more troops and weaponry positioned in the depth areas,” a source said.

But face-offs and clashes cannot be ruled out due to tensions running high on the ground, especially in the Pangong Tso and GalwanValley regions, though the rival troops are maintaining “stand-off distances” from each other.

COVID SURVEY

NEW DELHI: 

The Centre, which is closely monitoring all the timelines stipulated under the Covid-19 management plan discussed during the June 21 meeting of Delhi Disaster Management Authority let it be known on Friday that things were progressing in a smooth and timely manner. However, officials in the Delhi government

 indicated that they had received neither any guidelines, nor resources for the three surveys to be conducted in the city. They said they were disappointed that the Centre had not worked out a proper strategy as promised.

“It is important to get guidelines and resources immediately. Officials and the state machinery have been left guessing about the next steps without the promised master plan,” said a senior Delhi government official, requesting anonymity.

TWO SURVEYS

The timelines had been spelt out in a document issued by the Directorate General of Health Services on June 22.

It had committed the state, among other things, to carry out house-to-house screening in the containment zones by June 30 and in the rest of Delhi by July 6.

It had also stipulated a serological survey of 20,000 people to be carried out between June 27 and July 10.

The state government officials had on June 24 given a lukewarm response to the plans initially, saying that this kind of an initiative would need all stakeholders to work together and they had not been kept in the loop on this.

However, that reaction was later tempered with a display of willingness to go along.