New Delhi, Nov 28, : On Sunday, the Centre wrote to the UTs and states about the possible threat of Covid variant B.1.1.529.This variant has been designated the ‘Variant of Concern (VOC) (World Health Organisation).The Centre has urged UTs and states to closely monitor international passengers. “In view of the potential threat that this VoC could pose to the country, it is imperative to enforce the intensive containment and active surveillance in the field, increased coverage of vaccines and Covid Appropriate Behavior in a very proactive fashion to effectively manage this VoC,” stated the letter to the states.
It is vital that the country’s disease surveillance network is set up to ensure the strict follow-up of all international travelers, especially those from countries considered “at risk”.
According to the letter, there is already an existing reporting mechanism that allows for the collection of past travel details from passengers who have traveled internationally.
“This should be reviewed at the Ministry’s level.The protocol provided by this Ministry should also be strictly enforced, including testing on disembarkation for international travelers from ‘At-Risk’ countries and sending all positive DNA samples to INSACOG Labs promptly for genome sequencing.”
The Centre also requested that the states and UTs improve the Covid testing and tight monitoring of hotspots.
“In all such hotspots saturation tests and fast sending of positive samples for genome sequencing to designated INSACOG Labs should be done in collaboration with Department of Biotechnology, Govt of lndia, and National Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC).The letter stated that states should monitor the trend in cases and the positive rate in a given area to quickly identify hotspots for effective Covid-19 containment.
The goal of the states is to achieve a positive rate below 5%.However, they should also focus on increasing the number and share of RTPCR tests to aid early identification.
The Centre also requested regular press briefings from the states to promote vaccination and Covid appropriate Behaviour.
“INSACOG” was established to monitor the circulating variants within the country.
The letter stated that states must increase the sampling from the general population to enable genome sequencing.They should also send these samples to INSACOG Lab network according the policy.
The Centre stresses the importance of enhancing health infrastructure and has asked states and UTs to follow the ‘Test Track-Treat Vax and Covid Appropriate Behavior’ principle to ensure strict implementation of the guidelines.
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