The rise in COVID cases in China and other countries has sent alarm bells ringing in India.

Union Health minister Mansukh Mandaviya chaired a high-level review meeting in New Delhi on December 21, 2022, where he asked the officials to stay alert and step up tracking of cases.

“COVID is not over yet. I have directed all concerned to be alert and strengthen surveillance. We are prepared to manage any situation,” Dr Mandavya tweeted.

Responding to media queries, NITI Ayog Member Dr V K Paul said that people should mask up in crowded places given the rising cases in many countries.

Pointing out that the uptake of precautionary vaccination has remained low at 27-28%, Dr Paul appealed to people, especially the elderly population to get vaccinated.

Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan had earlier asked the states to send the samples of all COVID positive patients for genomic sequencing to the INSACOG genomic mapping facilities mapped in the states.

In a letter, the Union Health Secretary underlined the necessity to remain vigilant amid the rising number of cases in many countries, including the United States, Brazil, China and Japan in recent days.

“In view of the sudden spurt of cases being witnessed in Japan, United States of America, Republic of Korea, Brazil and China, it is essential to gear up the whole genome sequencing of positive case samples to track the variants,” the letter read.

“Such an exercise will enable timely detection of newer variants, if any, circulating in the country and will facilitate the undertaking of requisite public health measures for the same,” he wrote.

According to media reports, China is struggling to contain the rise in COVID-related deaths after the authorities decided to disband the “Zero COVID’ policy after protests recently.

The authorities say that it is impossible to track the progress of the virus leading to overwhelming the healthcare system in the country with videos of empty shelves in pharmacies and exhausted healthcare staff collapsing surfaced on social media platforms.

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