COVID-19 4th Wave: Genome sequencing lab at GMC Srinagar to be made functional in a week's time: Official

No rising trend in COVID cases yet in J&K: Doctors

Amid the rise in Covid-19 cases globally, the genome sequencing lab at Government Medical College (GMC) Jammu is being made functional within a week's time.

A top health official while talking to news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) said that Genome sequencing lab at GMC Srinagar shall be functional within a week's time.

He said that all positive samples will undergo genome sequencing so as to check out possible new variants. It shall be accredited by INSACOG, he said.

Notably, the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG), jointly initiated by the Union Health Ministry of Health, and Department of Biotechnology (DBT) with Council for Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) and Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), is a consortium of 54 laboratories to monitor the genomic variations in the SARS-CoV-2.

INSACOG is a multi-laboratory, multi-agency, Pan-India network to monitor genomic variations in the SARS-CoV-2 by a sentinel sequencing effort which is facilitated by the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Delhi involving the Central Surveillance Unit (CSU) under Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP).

Pertinently, as of now J&K has no whole genome sequencing labs due to which tests were being sent to NCDC Delhi from where reports were coming very late.

Following the second wave of Covid-19 J&K, the government had planned to set up two genome sequencing labs one each in Srinagar and Jammu, however, labs were not made functional as of now.

News agency KNO has carried a series of stories about the need of genome sequencing labs in J&K which are very few in whole India.

Meanwhile, doctors across J&K said that as of now there is no rising trend in Covid-19 cases in J&K, however stressed that people must take precautions to keep Covid-19 at bay.

Doctors from both GMC Jammu and Srinagar said that the positivity rate as of now is very less despite that hundreds of samples are being tested on a daily basis.

They, however, requested people to take precautions so as to keep themselves safe from Covid-19—(KNO)