Second phase of National Covid-19 begins today

Muscat: The second phase of the National Serological Survey will be launched in Oman from Sunday, August 16.

"To help to determine the prevalence of Covid-19 infection in the community as part of the national strategy for the next period of response to the pandemic, the National Serological Survey was launched July 12, 2020," a statement said from the Ministry of Health said.

With the survey being conducted in stages, consisting of four cycles; each will last for five days where the time between each cycle and the other is two weeks over ten weeks.

The challenges faced by the teams at the field level were overcome, and effective solutions were found to ensure that the survey process continues smoothly in the way it was planned.

The collection of samples has been completed as per the numbers required for the first cycle and the necessary diagnostic tests are carried out and the work is underway to finalize the analysis of the results.

The Directorate General of Disease Surveillance and Control will prepare a detailed report on the results of the first phase during the coming period, and the next phases of the serosurvey will be completed to assess the trend of the disease spread as planned.

It is worth mentioning that the time plan for the start of the second phase, which was scheduled to start last week, was changed in order to avoid obstructing the work as the period of the previously planned to start coincided with the period of Eid Al-Adha vacation and the subsequent closure between the provinces.

The first phase has contributed to clarifying the survey mechanism, during which individuals are selected to participate, whether citizens or residents of different age groups in all provinces of Oman.

However, some of the things that have raised questions among individuals in the community should be emphasized, including firstly, the selection of people to participate will be randomly based to avoid the selection bias in the collection of samples and therefore increase the possibility of generalizing the results later.

The persons selected to participate in the survey will be receiving text messages from the Ministry of Health that he/she had been selected, this message will be followed by a phone call to receive the initial verbal approval, that person is then directed to the nearest health institution where written approval will be taken with the compilation of the participant's demographic data that will be collected through Tarassud+ application and then taking a blood test sample and not a nasal swab sample.

Thirdly, that the person will not be subjected to isolation after taking the sample during the waiting period of the result and will not be obliged to wear the electronic tracking bracelet, fourthly to emphasize the availability of members of the public health staff and medical staff who are able to communicate in different languages for non-Arabic speakers.

It should be emphasized here that there are no legal consequences for not participating in the survey as the process of participating is voluntary, but public awareness should be raised of the importance of this survey in assessing the prevalence of COVID-19 infection according to age group and monitor undiagnosed laboratory cases, assessing the level of infection in different states in Oman as well as the rate of infection in those who have not shown symptoms, and assessing the effects of closure in the regions on the spread of the epidemic.

The survey process has received positive community interaction through the participation in the survey process, which reveals a high degree of activation of individual and community responsibility, which will ensure that the goals hoped for by this survey are achieved in the conning phases.