Modi to review Covid situation at high-level meeting today

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to chair on Thursday afternoon a high-level meeting to review the Covid-19 situation and its related aspects in the country In the last six months, India reported four cases of the BF.7 Omicron sub-variant, which is driving the current surge of infections in China.

Sources said there are currently 10 different variants of Covid-19 in the country, with the latest being BF.7.

Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya had on Wednesday chaired a high-level meeting to review the prevailing Covid-19 situation in the country and the preparedness of the public health system for surveillance, containment, and management of the pandemic.

He urged people to follow Covid-appropriate behavior and get vaccinated against Covid-19.

Emphasizing that the pandemic is not over yet, he asked officials to be fully geared up to challenge and step up surveillance.

Amid a surge in Covid-19 cases globally, the central government briefed all states to conduct genome sequencing of samples, the additional chief secretary of Health Manoj Agarwal informed on Wednesday.

"Yesterday (Tuesday), the central government briefed all states on the increasing trend of Covid-19 variants in parts of the world and asked them to ensure that whole genome sequencing is done in all states," he said.

There has been an alarming surge in Covid cases in China, Japan, South Korea, France, and the United States.

The spike is being blamed on the new Omicron sub-variant BF.7, which has also been detected in four Indian states.