New Delhi: Amid a sudden spurt in Covid-19 cases in Japan, South Korea, Brazil, China and the US, the central government on Tuesday urged all states and Union territories to gear up the whole genome sequencing of positive samples to keep track of emerging variants.
In a letter to states and UTs, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said such an exercise will enable timely detection of newer variants, if any, circulating in the country and will facilitate undertaking of requisite public health measures.
He highlighted that India with its focus on the five-fold strategy of test-track-treat-vaccination and adherence to Covid-appropriate behaviour has been able to restrict the transmission of the coronavirus and is having around 1,200 cases on a weekly basis.
Public health challenge of Covid-19 still persists around the world with around 35 lakh cases reported weekly, Bhushan said.
