A worrying aspect is the dramatic rise in Covid instances that has been observed over the world, particularly in Japan, the United States, Korea, Brazil, and China. This occurs as a result of China this week giving in to public pressure to abandon its “zero Covid” policy and end the nearly three years of lockdowns, quarantines, and mass testing that were followed by an uptick in cases.
The Chinese healthcare system is currently under tremendous strain, with hospitals there getting more and more overcrowded. According to an estimate by epidemiologist Eric Feigl-Ding, within the next 90 days, it’s conceivable that more than 60% of China and 10% of the world’s population will be infected, with millions of deaths expected. The Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) network will be used to follow mutations in the wake of this, the Centre wrote to the states on Tuesday, urging them to increase genome sequencing of positive case samples.
Rajesh Bhushan, the Union Health Secretary, wrote in a letter: “In light of the sudden increase in cases being seen in Japan, the USA, Korea, Brazil, and China, it’s essential to gear up the whole genome sequencing of positive case samples to track variants through the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium(INSACOG) network.”
