Antibody tests to be done in 7 areas with half of Gurugram’s cases

GURUGRAM: More than half of the total

Covid cases

in the city are from seven small clusters — Firoz Gandhi Colony, Wazirabad, Lakshman Vihar, Chandar Lok, Dundahera, Chakkarpur and Gandhi Nagar. Moreover, many residents of other areas, who later turned out to be positive too, were in the chain of contact of patients from these pockets.

Keeping this in mind, the health department plans to conduct

antibody tests

on contacts of patients from these seven areas, which account for more than 1,600 of Gurugram’s 3,007 cases. “We have identified seven small clusters that have contributed to 54% of the

Covid-19

cases. We discussed plans with the respective primary health centre units in these areas to curb the spread of the virus,” said Virender Yadav, chief medical officer, Gurugram.

In the coming days, the health department said it plans to ramp up testing and tracing efforts in the areas. “We are in the process of distributing booklets on coronavirus and dos and don’ts to people of these high-risk clusters,” Yadav added.

At present, about 5,000 antibody tests have been conducted in hotspots. “The pockets are densely populated . We are spreading awareness about personal hygiene,” said a health department official.