Kerala government conducts seroprevalence study to assess COVID spread

The Kerala government is conducting a seroprevalence study to take stock of the spread of COVID-19 virus among the people in the state.

Health Minister Veena George said the study began earlier this month and is expected to be completed by the end of September. The study would help understand the COVID seropositivity rate among various age groups including children, she told reporters here.

"The Health Department is conducting the seroprevalence study. It is expected to completed by this month end. It will be carried out among children as well as adults," the minister said.

Asked about the school reopening in the state, George said the study would help understand the seropositivity among children and the government would take further decisions about it after the study.

The study report would be submitted to the CM, General Education and other concerned officials, who would take a call on the reopening of schools after that.

On the concerns regarding Nipah virus, reported in Kozhikode last week, she said all the samples tested so far had turned out to be negative, which is a matter of relief.

"Source tracing is equally important as that of the contract tracing. A special team from the National Institute of Virology is already collecting samples from the state to identify the source of the spread of the virus infection," she said.

However, the minister said the ongoing strict vigil and the restrictions in the affected areas would continue for some more time.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Friday said his government had conducted a complete house-to-house survey within three-km-radius from the house of the 12-year-old boy who succumbed to Nipah virus on September 5 as part of fever surveillance. He said in the survey around 15,000 houses were included from the containment zone and details were sought from around 68,000 people.