Health Minister Mandaviya to review COVID situation on Dec. 21 amid spurt in cases in U.S., China
The HinduAmid a fresh spurt in COVID-19 cases in Japan, South Korea, Brazil, China and the U.S., Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya will review the pandemic situation on December 21, 2022, official sources said. Earlier on Tuesday, the Health Ministry urged all states and Union territories to ramp up the whole genome sequencing of positive samples to keep track of newer variants. In a letter to States and Union Territories, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said such an exercise will enable timely detection of newer variants, if any, circulating in the country and will facilitate undertaking of requisite public health measures. "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 through Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium network," he said.