 "Delhi CM Kejriwal directs health dept to ramp up genome sequencing")
Delhi government is keeping a watch on the COVID-19 situation and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has directed the health department to ensure genome sequencing of samples and take other steps needed to meet any eventuality, officials said on Wednesday.
Amid a sudden spurt in COVID-19 cases in Japan, South Korea, Brazil, China and the US, the central government had 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 the states and UTs, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan had 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.
"The Delhi government is keeping a watch on the Covid situation. CM Arvind Kejriwal himself is monitoring the preparedness," a senior Delhi government official said on Wednesday.
"The CM has directed health department officials to ensure genome sequencing and take other steps needed to meet any eventuality. Whatever steps (are) needed to meet the emerging Covid situation will be promptly taken," the officer said.
Public health challenge of COVID-19 still persists around the world with around 35 lakh cases reported weekly.
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Chinese cities are currently hit by the highly transmissible Omicron strain, mostly BF.7 which is the main variant spreading in Beijing and is contributing to a wider surge of Covid infections in that country.
According to official sources, three cases of Omicron subvariant BF.7, apparently the strain driving China's current surge of Covid cases, have been detected in India so far.
The first case of BF.7 in India was detected in October by Gujarat Biotechnology Research Centre. So far, two cases have been reported from Gujarat while one case has been reported from Odisha, they said.
BF.7 has already been detected in several other countries, including the US, the UK and European nations such as Belgium, Germany, France and Denmark.
However, experts said BF.7 should not worry India too much as lot of people have developed immunity against the virus, either through vaccination or previous infection, unlike China where people have low immunity against Covid due to tough restrictions.
"The government is proactive and its directions are scientific. One should be cautious considering the spurt in cases in several countries but any new variant of Omicron is unlikely to cause any big trouble in India," Dr Jugal Kishore, the head of the community medicine department at Safdarjung Hospital, said.
India saw a massive third wave earlier this year and it, in a way, worked as a booster dose for a large number of people, the senior doctor said.
Delhi has recorded 20,07,097 Covid cases and 26,519 deaths since the pandemic started in early 2020.
Around 2,000 to 3,000 tests are being conducted in Delhi on an average and the number of daily cases has remained below 20 since mid-November. Only one death due to the infection has been reported in December so far.