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India to Ramp up Genomic Surveillance to Study Coronavirus Mutations After Concerns Over UK Variant
Workers in personal protective equipment guide passengers arriving from United Kingdom on December 22, 2020. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)
The consortium will see collaboration between autonomous institutes of the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Science and Technology to ramp up genome sequencing of novel Coronavirus samples.
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The Union government is going to ramp up surveillance of the mutations and different strains of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in light of the outbreak of a new variant of the virus in the United Kingdom. The government has proposed a ‘Genomic Surveillance Consortium’ in a bid improve its understanding of how the virus spreads and has evolved.
India plans to sequence the whole coronavirus genomes from five per cent of Covid-19 positive cases in all states to enhance surveillance for early detection and containment of the fast-spreading UK variant.
A national task force on Covid-19 decided on Saturday to expand genome sequencing through nationwide sampling of five per cent of the positive cases. Scientists say the initiative would also provide better insights into Covid-19 variants already circulating in India.
Routine sampling of positive cases for genome sequencing is an idea health authorities in Kerala had adopted over a month ago after a pilot study in September to sequence 100 samples from each of the state’s 14 districts each month.
Updated Dec 24, 2020 | 11:46 IST
The authorities are looking at people from Dubai, Sharjah, Doha and Dhaka to check if anyone had moved airports in the UAE. People who arrived at Kolkata from foreign countries after November 25 under watch | Photo Credit: PTI
Kolkata: More than 800 people who came from UK to the city after November 25 are under watch of the state government. Immigration authorities at the city airport are collecting data of all people who have arrived by Air India flights from London.
The authorities are looking at people from Dubai, Sharjah, Doha and Dhaka to check if anyone had moved airports in the UAE, Qatar and Bangladesh to reach the city during this period. The step comes after a fresh set of SOPs issued by the central government that prescribes different actions for entry and in the community for all international travellers who have travelled from or moved through UK from November 25-December 23.
Explained: A mutated coronavirus has been detected in the UK. What are its implications?
A mutated variant of the novel coronavirus has been associated with recent infections in England. What is it? What does it mean for people s response to vaccines? Is the strain in India? Updated: December 23, 2020 7:29:22 am
A mutation means a change in the genetic sequence of the virus. In the case of SARS-CoV-2, which is an RNA virus, a mutation means a change in the sequence in which its molecules are arranged.
A mutated variant of the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV2 has been associated with recent infections in England. The question being raised is whether the mutation could affect people’s response to vaccines and scientists say this is unlikely. The virus has undergone several mutations since it first infected humans, which scientists say is neither unexpected nor a cause for panic.