New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will chair a high-level meet this afternoon to review the Covid-19 situation in the country. This comes after four cases of BF.7 sub-variant of Omicron, which is driving the huge Covid surge in China, were detected in India.
Covid was back at the centre of India's health and political map on Wednesday with the government advising people to get vaccinated and mask up, and saying random sample testing will be conducted at airports for passengers arriving from China and other countries.
Three cases of the Omicron subvariant BF.7, apparently the strain driving China's current surge of Covid cases, were detected in different parts of the country. The first case of BF.7 in India was detected in October by the Gujarat Biotechnology Research Centre, official sources said, adding that two cases have been reported from Gujarat and one from Odisha.
Health Minister Mandaviya chaired a Covid review meeting with experts and senior officials stressing the need for continued surveillance even though there is no overall increase in the Covid caseload as of now. "Covid is not over yet. I have directed all concerned to be alert and strengthen surveillance. We are prepared to manage any situation," the minister said.
He directed that the surveillance system for whole genome sequencing of positive case samples to track variants through the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) network be strengthened. States/UTs have been requested to send samples of all COVID-19 positive cases to INSACOG Genome Sequencing Laboratories (IGSLs) on a daily basis, for sequencing, to track new variants, if any, a health ministry statement said.
India has been witnessing a steady decline in cases with average daily cases falling to 158 in the week ending December 19, 2022, the minister was briefed in a presentation. However, a consistent rise in global daily average cases has been reported for the last six weeks, with 5.9 lakh daily average cases reported in the week ending December 19, 2022.
"Random sample testing will be done for international air passengers arriving from various countries including China," an official source said after the review meeting. NITI Aayog member (Health) Dr V K Paul noted that only 27-28 per cent of India's eligible population had taken the Covid precaution dose and said people should take the jab and also wear masks in crowded places.
