SHILLONG, Dec 2: The Health department has decided to go for genome sequencing of all the active COVID-19 cases in the state to detect the presence of the new omicron variant.
Principal Secretary for Health, Sampath Kumar on Thursday said they have sent more than 100 samples for genome sequencing.
“Most of the cases are of the delta variant and only the alpha variant is not a concern. As part of our pro-active strategy, we are going for genome sequencing of the cases that test positive to understand if the new variant is here,” he said.
Kumar said a state-of-the-art molecular diagnostic laboratory for genome sequencing is in place and a dedicated team is working 24/7.
He also said the state government had recently signed an MoU with the Centre for Cellular & Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad for the modern laboratory. They had a detailed discussion on this new variant with the director of CCMB when he had visited the state.
Kumar said it is important for the citizens of the state to continue to follow certain basic steps such as getting themselves vaccinated, strictly adhering to COVID-19 guidelines by wearing masks in public places and going for early treatment.
Pointing out that mutations can happen, he said there is a need to live with the novel coronavirus as it has become more of an endemic than a pandemic.
He suggested the need to treat the virus in the way malaria is treated by strictly following the protocols.
Kumar further said 67% of the state’s adult population has been vaccinated.
Lauding the deputy commissioner of South Garo Hills for leading the way in increasing the vaccination coverage, he said the exercise was conducted in election mode to complete 50,000 vaccinations in two days.
“We have adopted a similar approach in other districts. During this month, the officials will be going to the various polling stations for the vaccination drive. We should increase the vaccination coverage before the festival period,” he said.
The principal secretary said 35 out of 11,000 oxygen beds have been currently occupied.
“We have enough oxygen capacity. We are much prepared now in terms of how to manage the treatment with the vaccine as a solution,” he said.
He further said the prefab COVID-19 hospitals are ready and it will be made operational whenever required.
He said there is nothing to worry about at the moment since they are getting less than 30 cases on a daily basis.
24 fresh cases, one death
The state on Thursday recorded 24 fresh cases of COVID-19 cases while one patient succumbed to the viral infection taking the death toll to 1,474.
The active tally now stands at 296 while 82,764 people have recovered from the viral infection including 25 on the day.
23 new cases were reported in East Khasi Hills while one was detected in West Khasi Hills.