COVID +ve UK returnees will be tested for genome sequencing: MoH
India
Published: Tuesday, December 29, 2020, 16:42 [IST]
New Delhi, Dec 29: Union Health Ministry hads on Tuesday said that all the international passengers who have arrived in India during last 14 days i.e. dated from 9th Dec to 22nd Dec, 2020, if symptomatic and tested COVID-19 positive will be tested for genome sequencing amid the rising tension over the new COVID strain in the UK.
Also, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said, Prior to the news of the UK variant came in, 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.
Govt to increase number of genome sequencing for COVID-19: Health Ministry ANI | Updated: Dec 29, 2020 17:27 IST
New Delhi [India], December 29 (ANI): The government will increase the number of 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. 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 said in a press conference here.
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Updated Dec 29, 2020 | 17:06 IST
Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said that India had already conducted nearly 5,000 genome sequences across labs even before the news of the UK variant came in. Representational Image | Photo Credit: PTI
New Delhi: India’s principal scientific adviser Vijay Raghavan on Tuesday said that the new variant of coronavirus detected in the UK is spreading rapidly, adding that there is no evidence that the current vaccines will not work against it.
“The UK has reported 40,000 new cases in the last 24 hours and that is the cause of concern for other countries also. The new variant of coronavirus found in the UK is spreading very rapidly,” he said at a press briefing.
5 pc of COVID-19 positive samples in country will be subjected to genome sequencing: Govt ANI | Updated: Dec 29, 2020 19:56 IST
New Delhi [India], December 29 (ANI): Five per cent of the coronavirus positive samples in the country would be subjected to genome sequencing, the government has said. There is nothing popular or unpopular about virus strains. All the inbound passengers from the UK were identified the passenger manifest or lists were shared with the states and UTs. They were advised to take samples. Most of them who came from December 21 to the midnight of December 23 were subjected to RT- PCR test at the airport itself, said Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan while responding to a question if the mutant strain of COVID-19 detected from six people is the most popular one, called B117 .