“Micro-level monitoring” is underway in Mumbai and Kerala, sources from the Health Ministry said.
New Delhi:
800 to 900 samples from Maharashtra and Kerala, two of the five states that have seen an increase in coronavirus cases in recent days, were sent for genome sequencing in the last month, top sources from the Health Ministry said. the Union. This comes amid fear of mutant strains of the virus.
Samples for genome sequencing, a testing process to understand the complete genetics of an organism, have also been sought in Punjab and Bengaluru. Ministry sources said that in three or four days it will be clear whether new variants of the coronavirus play a role in the resurgence of Covid cases in these parts of the country.
So far, the genome sequencing of almost 6,000 samples has been carried out in the country.
Authorities have not been able to verify whether recent Covid cases in Kerala are due to the new variants.
“Micro-level monitoring” is underway in Kerala and Mumbai, ministry sources said. Officials are also finding out if Covid clusters are forming in new areas.
But government officials admit that India’s genome sequencing has been below the mark so far and that should change in the coming weeks.
“The country has established ten surveillance sites or laboratories for genomic sequencing and progress has certainly not been keeping up. We were expected to sequence 5 percent of all positive samples daily … There are two things – one is mutants. acquaintances who have come from other countries to India. The other equally important aspect is whether mutants emerge within the country, “said Dr NK Arora, Head of the Operational Research Group at the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR) Task Force from Covid, he told NDTV.
Unlike Europe, India has not seen the kind of spread of the highly contagious British variant. The British variant has been reported in 187 people in India.
Brazil and South Africa, where two of the new strains were first detected, have similar climatic conditions. The South African strain of coronavirus has been detected in four people in India and the Brazilian variant has been seen in one.
The center has delivered an action plan to Maharashtra, Kerala, Goa, Andhra Pradesh and Chandigarh after the recent increase in Covid cases in these states. One of the measures it has asked states to take is regular monitoring of mutant strains through tests followed by genome sequencing, as well as monitoring emerging clusters of cases.
Dr Shekhar Mande, Director General of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), told NDTV: “Five percent is the target we want to achieve (for genome sequencing). At this time, preparations are in progress. war footing to get that five percent goes. “
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