India readying to avoid another pandemic |
Weeks after the Xi Jinping-led Chinese government eased up on the stringent Covid curbs under the Zero Covid Policy following massive protests, Covid cases in the East Asian country have surged so much that experts suggest that within the next 3 months, 60% of the country could be fatally infected with the virus. Seeing a rise in global Covid-19 cases, the government of India has taken steps to avoid another wave of the pandemic in the country. All states in India have been asked to send all Covid positive samples, on a daily basis, and the samples will be sent to the designated INSACOG Genome Sequencing Laboratories (IGSLs). Indian`s Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya is reviewing the coronavirus situation in the country on December 21. He will hold a meeting with senior officials and experts on the Covid-19 situation in the country. Earlier on December 20, Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan wrote to States and Union Territories to ramp up genome sequencing following the sudden surge in Covid cases. "It is essential to gear up whole genome sequencing of positive case samples to track variants through the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) network," Bhushan wrote in the letter. 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. The country is having around twelve hundred cases on a weekly basis. According to the Union Health Ministry data updated on December 20, India recorded 112 new coronavirus infections, while the active cases declined to 3,490.
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