A noted Goa TV channel Prudent Media quotes the BJP as saying that 66.6% children in the age group of 5-17 years have Covid antibodies. This is allegedly reported by the (IDSP) Integrated Diseases Surveillance Programme of Goa Directorate of Health Services in a serosurvey conducted by them. If true, why is this disclosed by a private doctor and not the Secretary, Health Services who is chairman of the committee? To develop antibodies means the children should have contracted the disease and all could not have been asymptomatic. How many were hospitalised and how many died?
Mumbai has conducted 4 serosurveys since 2020. They reported 51% with antibodies in the age group 6-18 years. This was because Mumbai had high infections including in the slum areas. 17 under 10 kids died in 2020, while in April/June 2021 the deaths were higher. In the first 10 days of August 2021, 499 children in Karnataka got infected. 19 children in the 0-9 age group and 26 in the 10-19 age group lost their lives. The Goa Task force must come clear and cannot allow private doctors to command their reports. They must either support or refute the same.
