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Health minister Veena George | Photo: Mathrubhumi
Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala health minister Veena George on Wednesday informed that as of now there is no spurt in Covid-19 cases in the state, but the department will maintain vigil in the wake of union government’s directive asking all states and union territories to send samples of all COVID-19 positive cases to INSACOG labs to track new variants, if any.
According to the minister, hospital admissions and cases are being monitored. The government has also made special arrangements considering the pilgrim season.
“Will evaluate the situation to decide the future course of action. If there is an increase in the number of cases, arrangements for more testing will be made,” she said.
Chief minister Pinarayi Viajayan also in his press meet had said that the state is strengthening measures to deal with possible hike in cases.
Union health secretary on the other day had addressed a letter to the States and Union Territories, which said,”in view of the sudden spurt of cases being witnessed in Japan, United States of America, the Republic of Korea, Brazil and China, it is essential to gear up the whole genome sequencing of positive cases samples to track the variants through SARS-CoV-2 Genome Consortium Network (INSACOG) network.”
Meanwhile, three cases of Omicron subvariant BF.7, apparently the strain driving China's current surge of Covid cases, have been detected in India so far, official sources said Wednesday.
Official sources said random sample testing for coronavirus will be conducted at airports for international passengers arriving from China and other countries.
After the review meeting, Mandaviya said COVID-19 is not over yet. "I have directed all concerned to be alert and strengthen surveillance. We are prepared to manage any situation."
The government will again hold a meeting next week to monitor the situation.
During the meeting, it was highlighted that Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana and Tamil Nadu are the top five states contributing in terms of new Covid cases even though there is a consistent decline in the overall caseload in the country.
With PTI inputs
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