Government of India PIB
Press Briefing

11th June 2020

1

Cases per Lakh Population amongst the Lowest in the World

800 700 600 500 400 300 200 100

746.8

  

91.67 93.2

204.1

209.5

220.6

332.8 230.9

338.3

425.9 389.6

589.5 517.5

605.7

 

20.77

0
World India Mexico Turkey Iran Germany France Brazil Russia Italy UK Spain US Peru Chile



as per WHO Situation Report 142 dated 10th June, 2020

2

Death per Lakh Population – Amongst the Lowest in the World

70 60 50 40 30 20 10

0

60.2 56.3

  

5.23

10.0 4.4

10.4 5.6

10.9

58.0



17.5 11.9

16.9

44.8 33.5



0.59

                

as per WHO Situation Report 142 dated 10th June, 2020

3

 

Sero-surveillance to monitor the

trend of SARS-CoV-2 infection

transmission

COVID serosurvey

• What is serological survey?
• Blood samples collected from general population and tested for IgG antibodies
• IfapersonisIgGpositive,itmeanstheywereinfectedwithSARS-CoV-2inthepast

• Serosurveys are expected to answer the following questions
• What percentage of the general population has been infected by the virus?

• Who are at higher risk of getting infection?
• Which are the areas where containment efforts need to be strengthened?



Serosurvey for COVID

• ICMR conducted the first serosurvey in May 2020
• In collaboration with state health departments, NCDC, and WHO India

• Serosurvey had 2 parts
• PART I: Estimate fraction of population who has been infected with SARS-

CoV-2 in general population (COMPLETED)

• PART II: Estimate fraction of population who has been infected with SARS- CoV-2 in containment zones of hotspot cities (ONGOING)

     

Data and blood sample collection

• Data collection
• Socio-demographic details
• History of respiratory symptoms
• Written informed consent and ethics clearance

• Blood sample collection
• 3-5 ml of blood sample

• Laboratory investigations
• Sera tested for IgG antibodies, infection using COVID KAVACH ELISA



PART I: Population based serosurvey in districts

• Districts into four groups based on number of reported COVID-19 cases (incidence)

• Zero cases
• Low incidence
• Medium incidence • High incidence

• Selected minimum 15 districts from each group

• 400 individuals from each district
• Selected 10 villages/urban wards randomly • From each village/ward, enrolled 40 adults
• Only one adult enrolled from each household

 

Selection of districts & individuals surveyed

Stratum

Total no. of districts

Districts selected

No. of clusters selected

No. of clusters in urban area (%)

No. of households visited **

No. of individuals enrolled ** (% response)

Zero cases*

233

15

150

16 (11.4)

5886

5614 (95.4)

Low*

229

22

220

42 (21.0)

8352

8022 (96.0)

Medium*

84

16

160

48 (32.0)

6917

5980 (86.5)

High*

190

18

180

70 (41.2)

7440

6784 (91.2)

Total

736

83

770

176 (26.7)

28,595

26400 (92.3)



*Based on incidence of reported COVID cases as on 25 April 2020 **Data for 65 districts completed

Results

• 0.73% of the population in these districts had evidence of past exposure to SARS- CoV-2

• Lockdown/containment has been successful in keeping it low & preventing rapid spread

• However, it means that a large proportion of the population is still susceptible

• Risk is higher in Urban (1.09); Urban Slums (1.89) times higher than rural areas

• Infection fatality rate is very low 0.08%

• Infection in containment zones were found to be high with significant variations (still ongoing)

    

Conclusion: Way forward…

• Since, large proportion of the population is susceptible and infection can spread

• Non Pharmacological Interventions such as physical distancing, use of face
mask/cover, hand hygiene, cough etiquette must be followed strictly

• Urban slums highly vulnerable for the spread of infection

• Local lockdown measures need to continue as already advised by GOI

• High risk groups: Elderly, chronic morbidities, pregnant women & children less 10 years of age need to be protected

• Efforts to limit the scale and spread of the disease will have to be continued by strong implementation of containment strategies by the states

• The states cannot lower their guard & need to keep on implementing effective surveillance and containment strategies