“In view of the rising cases of Covid19 in some countries, reviewed the situation with experts and officials today. COVID is not over yet. I have directed all concerned to be alert and strengthen surveillance. We are prepared to manage any situation,” Union health Minsiter Mandaviya said in a tweet.
The secretaries of health, department of pharmaceuticals, department of biotechnology, Ayush, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Director General Rajiv Bahl, Member (Health) of NITI Aayog Dr V K Paul and National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (NTAGI) Chairman Dr N K Arora attended the meeting among other officials.
In view of the rise in cases in Japan, the United States of America, Republic of Korea, Brazil and China the Union Health Ministry on Tuesday urged all states and Union territories to ramp up the whole genome sequencing of positive samples of Covid to keep track of emerging variants.
In a letter to states and UTs, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan had said such an exercise will enable timely detection of newer variants, if any, circulating in the country and will facilitate undertaking of requisite public health measures.
The union health ministry on Tuesday sent a missive to state governments asking them to gear up for any possible future surge and to send for genome sequencing all positive case samples to track the variants through the INSACOG (Indian SARS-Cov2 Genomics Consortium) network.
“We have been conducting COVID-19 tests very regularly. We have a good number of doctors and para-medics, sufficient masks, oxygen supplies and ample number of beds in different hospitals and medical colleges to address the situation if there is a spurt in COVID cases,” the official said.
Earlier on Tuesday, union government of india has issued direction to all states and Union Territories to send all COVID-19 cases to INSACOG genome sequencing labs.. Amid the rising COVID-19 cases in India, the Indian government on Tuesday (December 20) got into action and outlined several steps to prevent the surge of COVID-19 in the country.
“ln view of the sudden spurt of cases being witnessed in Japan, United States of America, Republic of Korea, Brazil and China, it is essential to gear up the whole genome sequencing of positive case samples to track the variants,” Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan wrote in a letter to all states.
“Such an exercise will enable timely detection of newer variants, if any, circulating in the country and will facilitate undertaking of requisite public health measures for the same,” added the letter.
Meanwhile, as per Union Health Ministry’s data, a total of 112 new COVID-19 cases were reported from across the country over the last 24 hours. The number of fresh COVID cases on Monday were 181.
Notably, China is witnessing an unprecendented surge of COVID cases and the death toll due to the deadly virus is also rising in the world’s most populous nation. The situation became grim after the Chinese government decided to change its Zero Covid policy which allowed the authorities to impose tiugh lockdowns and testing at mass level.
Several media reports claimed that the sudden spike in COVID-19 cases has put a massive burden on Chinese hospitals, with some reports claiming that China is also facing a shortage of medicine. The burial grounds are reportedly overflowing with COVID-19 victims.
Covid alert advice impacted Weak Stocks markets : Indian government advisory and global sentiment amid fresh Covid-19 scare continued to haunt domestic equities. Markets, largely, saw a broad-based sell-off on the bourses on Wednesday with the S&P BSE sense falling 635 points, or 1.03 per cent, to end at 61,067. The Nifty50, meanwhile, settled at 18,199, down 186 points or 1.01 per cent.
