States, UTs asked to submit samples for whole genome sequencing amid uptick in COVID cases

The samples should be from the districts and areas that have witnessed a spike in COVID-19 cases over a period of seven days, official sources said on Saturday. This was decided on Friday during a meeting of the INSACOG, which reviewed the COVID data to ascertain the reasons behind the breakthrough infections and to determine if there any new variant or sub-variant has emerged.

TN National Desk

Updated Jun 19, 2022, 09:39 IST

COVID-19

Photo : PTI

New Delhi: Amid a rise in the number of COVID-19 cases, the states and Union territories have been asked to submit a "larger number" of samples for whole genome sequencing.

The samples should be from the districts and areas that have witnessed a spike in COVID-19 cases over a period of seven days, official sources said on Saturday.

This was decided on Friday during a meeting of the INSACOG, which reviewed the COVID data to ascertain the reasons behind the breakthrough infections and to determine if there any new variant or sub-variant has emerged.

"The idea behind asking the states and Union territories to send a larger number of samples is to keep a closer watch over the current circulating sub-lineages of Omicron and its correlation to the current epidemiological picture," an official told PTI.

"Also, we want to see if we are missing any important clues regarding newer sub-variants during routine sequencing through the sentinel surveillance," the official added.

According to the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) experts, the present uptick in the number of COVID cases in the country is likely due to Omicron and its sub-lineages -- primarily BA.2 and BA.2.38 as of now.

At present, 10 states and Union territories -- Maharashtra, Kerala, Delhi, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, West Bengal and Gujarat -- have over 1,000 COVID cases.

"The last review meeting concluded that there is no variant of concern in the country as of now. India now has BA.4 and BA.5 in addition to BA.2, which have slightly higher transmissibility as compared to the other Omicron sub-lineages," the official said.

According to health experts, several factors could be behind the surge in COVID cases, including easing of travel restrictions -- both nationally and internationally, reluctance among people towards adhering to COVID-appropriate behaviour and taking precaution dose of the vaccines, summer holidays.

However, there is no associated increase in hospitalisation or deaths and, the increase is limited to a few districts, according to experts.

Latest News