Mandaviya noted that the Covid-19 virus is constantly evolving and asserted that the health ministry is proactive in managing the pandemic and has given the states financial support in their battle against the contagious virus.
He said in the Lower House of the Parliament, “Ever-changing nature of coronavirus continues to pose danger to global health." He told the House, “From the last few days, Covid cases have been rising in the world but in India, cases are depleting. We are seeing rising Covid cases & deaths due to it in China."
“We are keeping an eye on the global Covid situation & are taking steps accordingly. States are advised to increase genome-sequencing to timely identify the new variant of Covid-19", the minister said.
Further assuring about the measures taken by the government to tackle the Covid surge in other countries, the Minister said, “Random sampling of international travellers arriving at airports has started."
Mandaviya said that states have been asked to conduct genome sequencing of every Covid case, it would enable tracking of new variants. “In view of festive season ahead, states asked to be alert, create awareness about masks and sanitisers," he added.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's is goung to hold a high-level meeting on the Covid-19 situation in the country at 3.30 pm today.
On Wednesday, the Union Minister of Health, had reviewed the COVID-19 situation in the nation and ordered officials to be vigilant and step up surveillance.
Earlier, the Health Ministry had urged all states and union territories to speed up the whole genome sequencing of positive samples for Covid in order to keep track of newly discovered variants in light of the rise in cases in Japan, the United States of America, Republic of Korea, Brazil, and China.
