In view of some regions in the country reporting a slight surge in Covid-19 infections, the Delhi government’s health department on Thursday directed government hospitals to start testing all patients coming in with influenza-like ailments and respiratory infections for Covid, officials said.
The health department has mandated that all medical facilities conduct genome sequencing of positive RT-PCR samples with a view on tracking infections of the JN.1 sub-variant.
To be sure, experts have stressed that so far there have been no reports of rise in hospitalisations or cases of Covid-related pneumonia, both in Delhi and in the rest of the country, and deaths related to the viral disease still remain low.
In a statement issued on Thursday, the Delhi government said health minister Saurabh Bhardwaj has been conducting routine reviews with health experts since November due to the rising Covid cases in Kerala and other parts of the country, and that the government has decided to increase surveillance and dedicate health care infrastructure.
Only four hospital beds are occupied across Delhi as of late Wednesday night, according to the data released by the Union health ministry, of which two are ICU beds and two are regular hospital beds. Also, no patients are on ventilators and none require oxygen support now.
“After detailed discussions, it was decided that the experts would develop an SOP regarding the number and types of samples to be tested by multiplex PCR in culture-negative severe pneumonia cases and to maintain adequate stock of antiviral drugs,” the government statement read.
It added, “Further, it was also decided to implement the operational guidelines for a revised surveillance strategy in the context of Covid-19.”
“There has been an increasing trend of Covid-19 cases from Kerala in the past few weeks, which experts have attributed to an increase in the number of samples from influenza-like illness cases being referred for testing,” the ministry statement read.
In Delhi, the RT-PCR positivity rate on December 19 was 0.48%.
On Saturday, Union health ministry confirmed the first case of sub-variant JN.1, a version of another variant of interest, BA.2.86, which is known to have a greater immune escape. US’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) identified the JN.1 variant of Covid-19 as being a closely related offshoot of the variant BA.2.86, which was initially reported from Denmark and Israel.