Centre chairs high-level meeting to review Covid-19 situation
Covid-19 situation: Principal Secretary to Prime Minister PK Mishra presided over a high-level meeting to look into the global and national COVID-19 situation, newer variants in circulation, and their public health impact, according to a news release from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
NITI Aayog Member Vinod Paul, Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba, PMO Advisor Amit Khare, Health and Family Welfare Secretary Sudhansh Pant, Secretary of the Department of Health Research and Director General of the Indian Council of Medical Research Rajiv Bahl, Biotechnology Secretary Rajesh S. Gokhale, and Additional Secretary to the Prime Minister Punya Salila Srivastava attended the meeting.
The Health Secretary provided an overview of the global COVID-19 situation, including newer kinds of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, such as BA.2.86 (Pirola) and EG.5 (Eris), which have been reported globally, according to the press release.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), whereas the variant EG.5 (Eris) has been reported from over 50 nations, the variant BA.2.86 (Pirola) has been recorded from four countries.
While a total of 2,96,219 new cases of COVID-19 were reported globally in the last seven days, India, which accounts for around 17 percent of the global population, reported only 223 cases (0.075 percent of global new cases) in the previous week, according to the release.
The Health Secretary further stated that the daily average of new COVID-19 cases in the country remains below 50 and that the country has managed to maintain a weekly test positivity rate of less than 0.2 percent. An overview of the Genome Sequencing of different variants found in India was also presented.
After careful consideration, PK Mishra stated that, while the COVID-19 situation in the country remains stable and public health systems remain prepared, there is a need for states to monitor trends of influenza-like illness or severe acute respiratory infections cases, send sufficient samples for Covid-19 testing while ramping up Whole Genome Sequencing, and keep a close eye on the new global variants, according to the press release.
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- ANI
