In a first-of-its-kind initiative aimed at checking the community spread of Covid-19, Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has launched a mobile based app – 'Ghar Ghar Nigrani', to undertake house to house surveillance in the state till the elimination of the pandemic. Chief Minister said, it is Health Department initiative, encompassing ASHA workers/Community Volunteers, as a tool for early detection and testing of the people for Covid19, and preventing its community spread.<br />'' <br />''Additional Chief Secretary (Health) Anurag Agarwal said that the entire rural and urban population of Punjab above 30 years of age shall be surveyed as part of the drive, which will also cover persons below the age of 30 having co-morbidity or Influenza like Illness/Severe Acute Respiratory Illness. This would not be a one-time activity but an ongoing process till the containment of COVID, said Agarwal. He said that the survey  would help the state develop an extremely important database to further plan its COVID containment strategy and make targeted interventions for the community.<br />'' <br />''<span style="color: #222222;">According to Special Secretary, Health-cum-Testing Incharge COVID, Isha Kalia, the user-friendly app had been developed and designed in-house by the Health Department, and had been field tested in Patiala and Mansa. Around 20,628 persons were surveyed, of whom 9045 were found to be asymptomatic and 1583 with symptoms of cough/fever/sore throat/breathlessness etc. The survey is currently under way in 518 villages and 47 urban wards. </span><br />