No mortality or rise in spread of Omicron variants in India: Centre
India initiated random testing of international travellers arriving at various airports on December 24.
Sentinel sequencing of 324 Covid positive samples collected from the community over a period of 10 days has revealed the presence of all Omicron variants, but no mortality or rise in transmission in the areas where these variants were detected, the Union health ministry said on Monday.
“Since 29th December, 2022 to 7th January, 2023, Integrated Disease Surveillance Program (IDSP) sentinel sites referred 324 Covid-19 positive samples for sequencing to 22 INSACOG labs. Sentinel sequencing of these positive samples lifted from the community revealed presence of all the Omicron variants like BA.2 and its sub-lineages including BA.2.75, XBB (37), BQ.1 & BQ.1.1 (5), etc,” the ministry said in a statement.
“No mortality or rise in transmission were reported in the areas where these variants were detected,” it added.
The health ministry’s statement came as several countries, particularly China, are reporting a surge in Covid-19 cases.
India initiated random testing of international travellers arriving at various airports on December 24. “The Union health ministry is keeping a close watch on the Covid-19 situation in various States through the Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme network particularly on the transmission and hospitalization trends,” the statement said.
