14 December 2020 12:01 am
By Kelum Bandara
The health authorities of the Colombo Municipal Council started antibody testing of people in collaboration with the Medical Faculty of Sri Jayewardenepura Universities to check on herd immunity against COVID-19, an official said yesterday.
Chief Medical Officer of the Municipal Council Dr. Ruwan Wijayamuni told Daily Mirror, antibody testing would be done on randomly selected people with the help of the Medical Faculty and the Department of Immunology and Molecular Biology of Sri Jayewardenepura University.
“We want to find out whether people have developed antibodies against COVID-19 after being exposed to it,” he said. Commenting more on the pandemic situation in the municipal areas, he said it had been contained, particularly in Colombo –North and Central areas. He said the epidemiological curve in the areas under his purview had flattened with the daily caseload being averaged at 125.
“Unlike the first wave, we cannot wait till there are zero cases to lift the status of isolation. We have to live with the virus till an effective vaccine is found,” he said. Also, he said isolation had led to an increase in the spread in apartment complexes in some instances.
“Isolation helps contain the spread in low-income settlements such as shanties and middle-income areas. In apartment complexes, it is hard to monitor the internal movement of people. Then, it leads to the further spread of the virus among people living inside a particular housing complex. We lifted several apartment buildings from isolation after careful calculation of the situation and conduct of PCR and antigen testing,” he said. Asked about the Public Health Inspectors (PHIs) talking about a community spread, Dr. Wijayamuni said fifth and sixth level contacts of the Minuwangoda and Peliyagoda clusters were the ones testing positive at the moment.