India increases safety precautions, and Mandaviya will review the COVID situation today as cases in China increase.
The virtual meeting will begin at 11 a.m. IST on Wednesday, when officials will decide on preventive measures to prevent the virus from spreading in India.
In light of the current surge in COVID daily numbers in China, as well as massive death counts that have overburdened hospital mortuaries, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya has announced that the ministry will hold a meeting on Wednesday to discuss and review the country’s COVID situation.
The health ministry will also investigate the COVID-19 situation in other countries, as well as the possible variants that are causing the cases (primarily in China, South Korea, Brazil, Japan, and US).
The secretaries of health, Ayush, pharmaceuticals, and biotechnology, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Director General Rajiv Bahl, Member (Health) of NITI Aayog V K Paul, and National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (NTAGI) Chairman N L Arora, among others, will attend the meeting, according to a tweet. The virtual meeting will begin at 11 a.m. IST on Wednesday, when officials will decide on preventive measures to stop the virus from spreading in India.
India Prepares for a Possible COVID Surge
Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan wrote in a letter to the states and union territories that given the sudden surge of COVID cases in China, Japan, South Korea, and the United States, it is critical that India ramp up the complete genome sequencing of the new cases. The sequencing of the genome will aid in the tracking of variants and their networks.
“All states are requested to ensure that samples of all positive cases are sent to the designated INSACOG Genome Sequencing Laboratories (IGSLs) that are mapped to the States and UTs on a daily basis,” said Union Health Secretary.
Previous Increases in COVID in India
In 2019, China reported the first case of SARS-CoV-2 infection caused by the COVID-19 virus. In Chinese cities, a viral disease that attacks the body’s respiratory organs was wreaking havoc. However, the virus quickly spread to other countries, infecting millions of people worldwide.
Within a few weeks, the situation deteriorated, leaving hospitals in most developed countries grappling with an increase in infection cases. In light of the deteriorating situation, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the virus spread to be a pandemic.
The worst case of virus infection was recorded in India during the pandemic’s ferocious second wave, which killed thousands of people (at least one from each house was infected and suffered the worse symptoms of the virus infection).
All of this occurred just as life began to return to normal, and people ignored the pandemic’s basic safety protocols. Currently, there are very few cases in India, but given what has happened in the past, experts believe that failing to follow safety precautions will cause another wave in the country, infecting many more people in the coming days.