Genome sequencing confirms 6 cases; Govt says vaccine effective against all strains
Caught off guard after six people tested positive for the super-infectious UK strain of the coronavirus on Tuesday, the Government has now decided to conduct genome sequencing on all international passengers who were symptomatic and tested positive for coronavirus in the last 14 days.
The Union Health Ministry has already decided to conduct genome sequencing on 5 per cent of the total Covid positive cases detected daily to check for new variants.
Experts feel that the response is too late as it will not be an easy task to trace the 33,000 flyers from the UK who had returned to India during the last one month.
“Many of them must have come into contact with their relatives and others. The contact tracing is going to be a difficult task,” they said amid reports that many UK returnees in India have either switched off their phone numbers or are not available at their residences.
However, the Government assured that the vaccines under development would also work against the mutated pathogen first reported in the UK.
“No need to worry about vaccines. Vaccines will work against the variants detected in the UK and South Africa. There is no evidence that current vaccines will fail to protect against the new mutant strains,” said Principal Scientific Adviser K VijayRaghavan at a presser here.
At the same time, he said, there is a need to reduce transmission through physical distancing, follow all public health measures scrupulously, wear masks, follow hand-washing, Covid appropriate behaviour, infection control, amplify test, track, isolate efforts.”
The Ministry has so far carried out genome testing of 144 positive Covid samples of which six have been found to be carrying the new variant reported in the UK.
Three samples in NIMHANS of Bengaluru, 2 in CCMB, Hyderabad and 1 in NIV, Pune have been detected out of all the 144 samples tested.
The new variant of the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 that causes Covid-19 is believed to be 71 per cent more transmittable than the other variants, the Hyderabad-based Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) said on Tuesday when India confirmed six cases of the new strain.
The leading research institute has underlined the importance to launch an extensive genome surveillance of the virus to assess the extent of the spread of the new virus.
“We should also keep an eye on other variants that might emerge independently, as India houses the second largest population infected with this virus, at present,” CCMB Director Dr Rakesh Mishra said as per a news agency.
The presence of the new UK variant of the coronavirus has already been reported by Denmark, the Netherlands, Australia, Italy, Sweden, France, Spain, Switzerland, Germany, Canada, Japan, Lebanon and Singapore so far.
“The Government was well aware of the mutated virus doing the rounds in several countries. It should have started genome testing of the flyers returning from these mutated affected countries as was being done by other nations. But the Government was either apathetic or negligent towards this important measures which it has now decided,” said a doctor from a Government hospital who refused to be named.
The Government said that all the persons with the new variant have been kept in single room isolation in designated healthcare facilities by respective State Governments.
“Their close contacts have also been put under quarantine. Comprehensive contact tracing has been initiated for co-travellers, family contacts, and others. Genome sequencing on other specimens is going on. The situation is under careful watch and regular advice is being provided to the States for enhanced surveillance, containment, testing & dispatch of samples to INSACOG labs,” said a Government official.
The Health Ministry has established the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) for laboratory and epidemiological surveillance and to expand the whole genome sequencing of the coronavirus in the country, aiding in the understanding of how the virus spreads and evolves.
The Government last week put temporary suspension of all flights coming from the UK with effect from the midnight of December 23 till December 31 and mandatory testing of all UK returnee air passengers through RT-PCR test.
Wednesday, 30 December 2020 | Archana Jyoti | New Delhi
