New Delhi, Dec 21, 2022: As Covid cases surge across the globe in countries including China, Japan, US, Korea and Brazil, the Centre told states to ramp up genome sequencing as the threat of a fourth wave of the pandemic looms large.
As per official sources, union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya will review the pandemic situation on Wednesday.
In a notice to the states, union secretary for health Rajesh Bhusha said, “Public health challenge of Covid-19 still persists around the world with around 35 lakh cases reported weekly.” Bhushan stressed that genome sequencing would ensure early detection of new variants and would facilitate undertaking of requisite public health measures.
He further added that India, through its focus on five-fold strategy of test-track-treat-vaccination and adherence to Covid appropriate behavior, has been able to significantly restrict the transmission of Covid-19 virus and is recording 1,200 cases on a weekly basis.
The need of the hour is to keep an eye on the key trends of existing variants, noted Bhushan.
On Tuesday, India recorded 112 new infections and the death toll now stands at 5,30,677. Active cases have declined to 3,490 and comprise 0.01% of the total infections, while the national Covid-19 recovery rate jumped to 98.8%, the health ministry said.
