40 UK variant, 16 double mutant cases confirmed

Tribune News Service
Shimla, June 2

The state has 40 confirmed cases of the UK variant of Covid-19 and 16 double mutant and 25 with some mutation of interest. The state had sent 876 samples for genome sequencing, and had received the reports for 146 samples. “The state is in touch with the NCDC authorities as the results of the remaining samples are awaited,” said a government spokesman.

Aid from abroad

The state has been receiving generous aid from abroad to tackle the second wave of the pandemic. The corporate sector, too, has been making significant contributions. The aid comprises medicines, oxygen concentrators, cylinders, masks, sanitisers.

He said that genomic surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 is being conducted by eight RT-PCR laboratories in the state. The Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) with 10 regional genome sequencing laboratories (RGSLs), spread across the country, had been constituted for viral genome sequencing in the country. For Himachal Pradesh, the NCDC, Delhi, has been tagged as the RGSL.

“Two types of surveillance is being carried out in the state for the purpose of genomic sequencing. One of the modalities is the Sentinel Surveillance of Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS), wherein instructions have been given to the designated labs to send samples to the NCDC, Delhi, for WGS,” he said.

In the other type of surveillance, the objective is to gather WGS information in the community by targeting events like clustering of cases, super-spreader events and clustering of cases in institutions. The sample of the Covid positive patients who had received the second dose of vaccination and the cases who had been re-infected shall also be given priority for submission to the NCDC, Delhi.

The state has been receiving generous aid from abroad to tackle the second wave of the pandemic. A government spokesperson said the corporate too have been making significant contributions. The aid comprises medicines, oxygen concentrators, cylinders, masks, sanitisers, etc. “The items received are being distributed to various health facilities as per their requirements. The aid is helping the state to augment resources for the management of the pandemic,” he said.