Centre to step up genome sequencing for UK strain
Consortium of 10 govt labs has been set up to conduct genome sequencing, detect virus variant
NEW DELHI: The government has decided to step up genome sequencing for Covid-19 in view of the new coronavirus strain that was first detected in the United Kingdom, Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan said on Tuesday.
The health ministry has established the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) for laboratory and epidemiological surveillance and to expand the whole genome sequencing of the coronavirus in the country, aiding in the understanding of how the virus spreads and evolves.
“An important development is the establishment of INSACOG which is a consortium of 10 government labs to do genome sequencing of the Sars (Covid-19) virus or any variant of that virus. These labs belong to ICMR, BioTech India, CSIR and Health Ministry,” Bhushan was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
Ten regional laboratories have been identified by the Centre where states will send five per cent of their Covid-19 positive samples for genome sequencing to detect the new coronavirus variant.
The development comes on the day six people who returned to India from the United Kingdom tested positive for the new mutated strain of coronavirus.
“Prior to the news of the UK variant, we had done roughly 5,000 genome sequences across labs. Now, we will be significantly increasing that number and would be working in a coordinated manner in the shape of a consortium,” he added.
According to the Union health ministry’s guidance document on genomic sequencing, samples of all international passengers who arrived in India from December 9 to 22 and tested positive for Covid-19 will have to undergo genome sequencing as part of the Centre’s strategy to detect the mutated coronavirus strain. Others will be followed up by the state and district surveillance officers, and will be tested as per ICMR guidelines, even if asymptomatic, between fifth and 10th day of arrival, the document added. “All the international passengers who have arrived in India during the last 14 days (from December 9 to 22), if symptomatic and tested positive, will be subjected to genome sequencing,” it stated.
Meanwhile, according to the health ministry, the daily new cases in the country have touched a new low with less than 16,500 new cases being added to the national tally after a gap of 187 days. The daily new cases were 16,922 on June 25.
India’s active caseload has fallen to 2,68,581 as on date. “The share of active cases in the total cases has further compressed to 2.63% of the cumulative caseload,” the ministry said.
A net decline of 8,720 cases has been recorded in the total active cases in a day, it stated.
With the rising recoveries and decline in daily new cases, India’s cumulative recoveries are inching closer to 100 million, the ministry said.
The total recovered cases have crossed 9.8 million (98,07,569). A total of 24,900 cases have recovered in a span of 24 hours. The ministry said 77.66% of the new recovered cases are observed to be concentrated in 10 states and UTs.