"Gear up genomic sequencing," the Center advises states as the number of Covid cases worldwide rises.

Today, the central government issued a new warning to the states and UTs in response to an abrupt increase in instances that have been reported in China,

.......the USA, Korea, Brazil, and Japan. Since loosening its containment stance, China announced its first Covid-19 deaths on December 19.

The Union Health Secretary today issued a new advisory to states and Union Territories in light of the increasing number of Covid-19 cases in China, the United States, Brazil, and Japan.

According to a notification from the Union Health Secretary, "ln view of the sudden spurt of cases being witnessed in Japan, USA, Korea, Brazil, and China,

........it's essential to gear up whole genome sequencing of positive case samples to track variants through Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) network."

The document said, "All states are urged to ensure that samples of all positive cases are transmitted, as often as feasible, 

.....on a daily basis to the authorised INSACOG Genome Sequencing Laboratories (IGSLs) that are mapped to the States and UTs.

Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan emphasised in a letter to states and UTs that India, with its emphasis 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 experiencing about 1,200 cases on a weekly basis.

He also made reference to the ministry's operational guidelines for the updated surveillance strategy in light of COVID-19, which were released in June of this year.