Kempegowda International Airport Bengaluru (Representative Image) (Wikimedia Commons)The Union Health Ministry on Wednesday (1 December) said that the samples of six Covid-19 positive passengers who arrived from "At-Risk" countries have been sent to INSACOG, a consortium of national laboratories, for genome sequencing.
As per the new guidelines released by the government, the UK, entire Europe and countries including South Africa, Brazil, Botswana, China, Mauritius, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Singapore, Hong Kong and Israel - are “at risk”.
"On the first day of operation of the Guidelines for International Travelers issued by the Centre as public health response measures for control and management of the new reported variant of COVID-19, which has been designated as a Variant of Concern (VOC) by WHO, six passengers were reported to be COVID positive," the Health Ministry said in a release.
"Total of 11 international flights landed at various airports of the country except Lucknow, from midnight to 4 pm today, from "at risk" countries. These carried 3476 passengers," the ministry said.
All 3476 passengers were administered RT-PCR Tests, wherein only six passengers were found COVID-19 positive, it added.
Further, the ministry said that the samples of the COVID-19 positive passengers have been sent to INSACOG labs for whole genomic sequencing.
The INSACOG (Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium) is a consortium of 28 National Laboratories to monitor the genomic variations in the SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
An Appeal...
Dear Reader,
As you are no doubt aware, Swarajya is a media product that is directly dependent on support from its readers in the form of subscriptions. We do not have the muscle and backing of a large media conglomerate nor are we playing for the large advertisement sweep-stake.
Our business model is you and your subscription. And in challenging times like these, we need your support now more than ever.
We deliver over 10 - 15 high quality articles with expert insights and views. From 7AM in the morning to 10PM late night we operate to ensure you, the reader, get to see what is just right.
Becoming a Patron or a subscriber for as little as Rs 1200/year is the best way you can support our efforts.