16k samples sent for genome sequencing
The union health ministry said9,066 samples were sent through sentinel sites in July and 6969 samples were shared in August
NEW DELHI : Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) labs have received 16,035 samples in the last two months for whole-genome sequencing (WGS) to trace variants of the virus that causes covid-19, the government said on Monday.
Since July, data for samples for WGS by sentinel sites is being shared via Integrated Health Information Platform (IHIP) portal which ensures real-time sharing of sample particulars and WGS results. Accordingly, 9,066 samples were sent through sentinel sites in July and 6,969 samples were shared in August, the union health ministry said.
The union health ministry further said that for the past one month the majority of the new cases are from only two states, namely Kerala and Maharashtra. “At present, out of the total 45000 new cases, more than 32000 cases are from Kerala and more than 4000 cases from Maharashtra which means that 80% cases are from 2 states and only 9000 cases, which is around 20%, are from rest of the Indian states. This is also reflected in the samples sequenced from various states," the government said.
The government also reacted to some reports alleging that genome sequencing and analysis of the covid-19 declined sharply in India even as cases of the disease continued to rise. It said that the initial part sequencing of samples by INSACOG labs was aimed at detecting the variants of concern among incoming international travellers and also to see whether any person with variants of concern has entered the country in past one month.
“For the detection of presence of VOC (variants of concern) inside country, 5% of the positives (by RT-PCR) were targeted for sequencing. Both the objectives were achieved by end of January, 2021. Many states like Maharashtra, Punjab and Delhi started showing rising trends in the month of February and as a response, the sequencing was enhanced in 4 districts of Vidharbha, 10 districts of Maharashtra and around 10 districts of Punjab," the union health ministry said in a statement.
“Moreover, the numbers have not been fixed to 300 samples per month or 10 sentinel sites per State. These are the indicative numbers and the States/UTs have been provided the flexibility of identifying more sentinel sites ensuring geographic representation from all parts," it said, adding, besides the sentinel sites, there is the option for states of sending vaccine break-through, reinfection or other unusual presentation samples for sequencing to INSACOG labs.
The government said the strategy of sentinel surveillance made sure that samples from each state were geographically well represented as the 5% of random sampling strategy resulted in samples from certain districts being over-represented, while some districts remained unrepresented from States.
“With the decrease in positivity, the samples availability from the sentinel sites catering to districts with zero or single digit weekly new cases has also gone down. Currently, over 86 districts in the country are having zero weekly new cases," the union health ministry said.
Over 38,948 new coronavirus cases were reported in the last 24 hours. Active caseload is presently 4,04,874 which constitutes 1.23% of the country's total positive cases. India has so far conducted over 53.14 crore cumulative tests. Weekly positivity rate is at 2.58% and the daily positivity rate stands at 2.76%.
India is also ramping up covid-19 vaccination. The cumulative vaccination has neared 69 crores on Monday. The central government in a separate statement said that more than 68 crore vaccine doses have been provided to states/UTs so far through government of India (free of cost channel) and through direct state procurement category.
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