With COVID-19 cases on the rise in many foreign countries, the Jammu and Kashmir government on Wednesday sounded an alert of a possible spread of the virus and directed the authorities to gear up the whole genome sequencing of positive case samples for tracking the new variants.
A high-level meeting was chaired by chaired by Secretary, Health and Medical Education, Bhupinder Kumar to assess department’s preparedness for early detection, isolation, testing and timely management of suspected and confirmed cases to contain outbreak of Corona variants, in the wake of alert issued by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
“Ensuring a strict vigil over the situation besides keeping ready the infrastructure and requisite supplies to tackle with any such cases,” Secretary directed officials.
Secretary reviewed in detail the available infrastructure, machinery and equipment’s including the status of testing capacity, availability of COVID essential diagnostics, COVID drugs and Oxygen Generation Plants.
Secretary instructed the Principal Government Medical College Jammu and Government Medical College Srinagar to ensure genome sequencing machines are installed and operationalized immediately in both the Medical Colleges to perform genome sequencing of all COVID positive cases.
He also asked the Managing Director, JKMSCL, to ensure that the COVID drugs and diagnostics are arranged in adequate quantities. He directed the HoDs of Health and Medical Education Department to make assessment of their requirements immediately and sent the requisition for procurement to JKMSCL.
It is pertinent tom mention here that the union health ministry has asked all states to step up covid surveillance and advised 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 Omicron subvariant BF.7, apparently the strain driving China’s current surge of Covid cases, have been detected in India so far, official sources said Wednesday.
BF.7 is a sub-lineage of the Omicron variant BA.5 and has the strongest infection ability since it is highly transmissible, has a shorter incubation period, and a higher capacity to cause reinfection or infect even those vaccinated.
The first case of BF.7 in India was detected in October by Gujarat Biotechnology Research Centre. So far, two cases have been reported from Gujarat and one from Odisha, they said.
In the Covid review meeting chaired by Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Wednesday, experts said although there is no overall increase in Covid caseload as of now, there is a need for continued surveillance to keep a track of existing and emerging variants.
The minister asked people to follow Covid-appropriate behaviour, including wearing masks in crowded places, and get vaccinated.
Noting that only 27 to 28 per cent of India’s eligible population have taken the Covid precaution dose, NITI Aayog member (Health) Dr. V K Paul, after the meeting, said people should take the jab and also wear masks in crowded places.
“People should wear masks in crowded areas. Those with comorbidities and the old should especially adhere to this,” Paul said and urged people not to panic.
According to official sources here, Chinese cities are currently hit by the highly transmissible Omicron strain, mostly BF.7 which is the main variant spreading in Beijing and is contributing to a wider surge of Covid infections in that country.
“The BF.7’s high transmissibility in China might be attributed to a low level of immunity in the Chinese population
from the previous infection and possibly vaccination too,” an official source said.
It has already been detected in several other countries, including the US, the UK and European nations such as Belgium, Germany, France and Denmark.
Official sources said random sample testing for coronavirus will be conducted at airports for international passengers arriving from China and other countries.
After the review meeting, Mandaviya said COVID-19 is not over yet. “I have directed all concerned to be alert and strengthen surveillance. We are prepared to manage any situation.”
The government will again hold a meeting next week to monitor the situation.
During the meeting, it was highlighted that Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana and Tamil Nadu are the top five states contributing in terms of new Covid cases even though there is a consistent decline in the overall caseload in the country.
