Only genome sequencing at Govt designated labs can confirm it, there is no proof of entry of new Covid strain yet, says Govt
The Union Health Ministry on Thursday allayed fears that new strain of the coronavirus has entered India and said that to be sure of its presence, it is necessary to establish a genome sequencing, which could be done only through designated labs identified by the Government.
“There is no proof that the new variant has entered India, and it is too early to jump to any conclusions,” said a statement here by the Ministry even as new Covid positive cases of the UK flyers continue to be reported from various airports in the country.
The Ministry also said that the genome sequencing of passengers from the UK has not been completed yet.
“Genome sequencing has not so far been done in respect of the 15 passengers of the 590 who landed in Mumbai from the UK on December 22. Therefore, it’s incorrect to say that the new strain of the coronavirus has entered India until it is established by a designated laboratory, “ it said.
Notably, as many as 22 passengers flying from the United Kingdom to different cities in India over the past few days have tested positive for coronavirus. As per experts, nearly 50 per cent of these UK travellers could be potential carriers of the new more infectious Covid-19 strain.
Meanwhile, the Health Ministry has reviewed the status of passengers coming from the UK to India and directed States and Union Territories to send samples of those found coronavirus positive to six laboratories identified for genome sequencing.
“The respective States and Union Territories have been advised to access the details of the passengers from the UK to India from the online portal AIR-SUVIDHA and Bureau of Immigration,” said the statement.
The laboratories that have been identified for genome sequencing are, the CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology in New Delhi, the CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology in Hyderabad, the DBT-Institute of Life Sciences in Bhubaneswar, DBT-InStem-NCBS in Bengaluru, the DBT-National Institute of Biomedical Genomics in West Bengal and the ICMR-National Institute of Virology in Pune.
This week, NITI Aayog member (health) Dr V K Paul also said that there was no need to panic over the mutated variant of SARS-CoV-2. Paul said the mutated strain detected in the UK will have no impact on the potential of emerging vaccines.
“As of now, based on our discussions, deep understanding of data available and our deep assessment, there is no need to panic but it is a cause to be more vigilant,” he said.
So far at least 20 air passengers from the United Kingdom have tested positive for coronavirus in India. The swab samples of infected patients have been sent to Pune’s National Institute of Virology, in order to check if anyone had been infected from a different virus strain.
On Wednesday, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan reviewed the status of travellers coming from the UK to India who were found Covid-19 positive before the temporary flight bans came into effect from December 23.
The States for which the detailed review was carried out included Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Goa, Punjab, Gujarat and Kerala.
Friday, 25 December 2020 | PNS | New Delhi
