Govt reviews Covid situation as Omicron subvariant BQ.1 detected in Pune

As a case of BQ.1 Covid-19 variant is detected in the country, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) took a review meeting on Tuesday on the pandemic situation in India.

Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Mansukh Mandaviya chaired a meeting with public health experts and officials to review the Covid-19 pandemic situation in the country, status of vaccination drive and the Global scenario of new variants of Covid-19. 

Sources say that the Health Ministry is concerned about the rise in cases during the winter months when influenza and pneumonia cases are on the rise too. 

On Monday, India detected the first confirmed case of BQ.1 variant in Pune. The BQ.1 is a mutation of BA.5, which is behind 60% Covid cases in the US. Maharashtra has also reported XBB, another Omicron subvariant. 

V K Paul, Member (Health) NITI Aayog was also present during the meeting.

Lav Agarwal, additional secretary, MoHFW made a detailed presentation on global scenario of surge in Covid-19 cases, primarily in Europe and an analysis of various Omicron Variants in the world.

Current status of vaccination was also reviewed including availability of vaccines, state-wise analysis of vaccine administration and officials highlighted the slow pace of administration of precautionary dose in the country.

"Union Health Minister stressed on the need to undertake adequate testing (with higher proportion of RTPCR) and effective Covid-19 surveillance to assess and control the spread of infection in a timely manner," MoHFW said 

The minister directed the officials to continue to focus on surveillance across the country, particularly through sentinel sites including monitoring of SARI & ILI cases and on Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) to scan for any possible mutation in the wake of identification of Omicron variants in other countries. 

He also urged officials to closely monitor hospitalizations due to Covid-19. 

He exhorted to increase pace of vaccination including precautionary dose to the eligible beneficiaries.

With the emergence of new Omicron variants, many countries are witnessing a steep rise in cases. Union Health Minister stressed on monitoring the points of entries. He also highlighted the need for community awareness for continued implementation of the Covid Appropriate Behaviour (CAB) especially in view of the upcoming festival season.