The Centre has asked states and union territories to submit a list of samples of genome sequencing amid the rising number of Covid cases in the country.
The move has been taken after the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) conducted a meeting to check the possibility of any emerging variant of Covid-19.
According to an official, “The idea behind asking states and Union territories to send a larger number of samples is to keep a closer watch over the current circulating sublineages of Omicron and its correlation to the current epidemiological picture.”
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The official added that the genome sequencing sample’s list is needed to check if “we are missing out on any important clues regarding newer sub-variants during routine sequencing through the sentinel surveillance”.
The official added that the last review meeting highlighted that there is no variant of concern in the country as yet. Currently, India has BA.4 and BA.5 along with the BA.2 variant which has slightly higher transmissibility in comparison to the other sub-lineages of Omicron.
Meanwhile, Delhi, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, West Bengal and Gujarat have more than 1000 active cases.
As per media reports, thirty-two districts in the country, including five from Maharashtra and 11 from Kerala are having positivity rate of over 10 per cent.
On Saturday, the country recorded a significant increase with 13,216 fresh Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours, against the 12,847 infections registered the previous day, according to the Union Health Ministry.
Also in the same period, there were 23 new fatalities which took the nationwide death toll to 5,24,840.
The active caseload increased to 68,108, accounting for 0.16 per cent of the country`s total positive cases.
The recovery of 8,148 patients in the last 24 hours took the cumulative tally to 4,26,90,845. Consequently, India`s recovery rate stands at 98.63 per cent.
While the daily positivity rate slightly jumped to 2.73 per cent, the weekly positivity rate stood at 2.47 per cent.
Also in the same period, a total of 4,84,924 tests were conducted across the country, increasing the overall tally to over 85.73 crores.
As of Saturday morning, India`s Covid-19 vaccination coverage exceeded 196 crores, achieved via 2,52,66,330 sessions.
Over 3.56 crore adolescents have been administered a first dose of Covid-19 jab since the beginning of the vaccination drive for this age bracket.
(With IANS Inputs)
