The Indian SARS-CoV-2 Consortium on Genomics (INSACOG) will hold a virtual meeting on Friday evening on Genome sequencing which will focus on the genome sequencing results of international travellers who tested COVID-19 positive, sources told ANI.
It's expected that INSACOG will be once again releasing a bulletin from next week on updates about the types of variants present in India.
In November INSACOG issued a bulletin mentioning that XBB BJ.1/ BM.1.1.1 detected in multiple states in India, 'XBB, a BJ 1/ BM.1.1.1 recombinant lineage with a breakpoint in the spike protein is presently appearing in multiple countries. This recombinant lineage was first detected in Singapore and US and has also been identified in multiple states in India. A sub-lineage of XBB with an additional mutation is also detected (XBB.1)'.
As per the latest guidelines, international passengers travelling to India from China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and Thailand will have to undergo mandatory RT-PCR tests before departure and upload a report on the Air Suvidha portal from January 1, 2023, said the Union health ministry on Thursday.
This is in addition to the random 2 per cent tests of all international passengers on their arrival in India irrespective of the port of departure, stated the Union health ministry.
It said that the test should have been conducted within 72 hours of undertaking the journey to India.
This is being done in view of the evolving COVID-19 situation worldwide, particularly in the aforesaid countries.
