Today, December 21, in New Delhi, the Minister for Health and Family Welfare, Dr. Mansukh Mandviya, presided over a high-level meeting to assess the country’s Covid-19 situation. Senior authorities including Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan, Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare Dr. Bharati Pravin Pawar, and others were present at the meeting.
In a tweet, Mr. Mandaviya said that in view of the rising cases of Covid-19 in some countries, he reviewed the situation with experts and officials today. Saying that COVID is not over yet, Mr. Mandaviya directed all concerned to be alert and strengthen surveillance. He added that the government is prepared to manage any situation.
A sudden uptick in COVID cases in China, Japan, the United States, Korea, and Brazil prompted the Health Ministry to advise States and Union Territories to enhance genome sequencing of positive samples yesterday, December 20.
In a letter to all the States and UTs, Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan explained that this would allow for the prompt discovery of any novel varieties that might be circulating in the nation. He claimed that doing so will make it easier to implement the necessary public health measures.Mr. Bhushan requested all the States to ensure that as far as possible samples of all positive cases, on a daily basis, are sent to the designated Genome Sequencing Laboratories.
According to the Secretary, India has been successful in limiting the spread of the COVID-19 virus thanks to its emphasis on the five-pronged strategy of testing, tracking, treating, immunising, and adhering to COVID suitable behaviour.
According to him, COVID-19 continues to pose a threat to public health, with an estimated 35 lakh instances reported weekly. Every week, there are about 1200 cases recorded in India.
