Health Minister to hold review meet as Covid-19 cases surge in China

New Delhi: In view of the sudden spurt of Covid -19 cases in China and other countries, Union Health Minister, Mansukh Mandaviya will chair a high-level meeting to review the situation here on Wednesday.

The center has also directed all the States and Union territories to send samples of all Covid-19 positive cases to INSACOG labs to track new variants if any.

In view of rising cases of Covid-19 in some countries, the Center on Tuesday wrote a letter to Addl. Chief Secretary, Secretary (Health) of all States and UTs to share the sample of all positive cases.

The letter stated that, "In this context, all states are requested to ensure that as far as possible samples of all positive cases, on a daily basis, are sent to the designated INSACOG Genome Sequencing Laboratories (IGSLS) that are mapped to the States and UTs".

"In view of the sudden spurt of cases being witnessed in Japan, the United States of America, the Republic of Korea, Brazil, and China, it is essential to gear up the whole genome sequencing of positive case samples to track the variants through Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) network," it said.

It further stated that such an exercise will enable the timely detection of newer variants, if any, circulating in the country and will facilitate the undertaking of requisite public health measures for the same.

The Union Health Ministry also assured all possible support to States and UTs in this regard.

The 'Operational Guidelines for Revised Surveillance Strategy in context of COVID-19' issued by the Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare in June 2022, calls for early detection, isolation, testing, and timely management of suspected and confirmed cases to detect and contain outbreaks of new SARS-CoV-2 variants.

"Therefore, monitoring the trends of existing variants is of crucial importance," the letter said.

The Ministry said India with its focus on the five-fold strategy of test-track-treat-vaccination and adherence to COVID Appropriate Behavior has been able to restrict the transmission of the Covid-19 virus and is recording around twelve hundred cases on a weekly basis.

"Public Health challenge of Covid-19 still persists around the world with around thirty-five lakh cases reported weekly" it informed. (UNI)