Surge in COVID-19 cases: States asked to submit more samples for genome sequencing

BA.2 and its sub-lineages account for over 85% of the COVID cases in India, with BA.2.38 being found in around 33% of the samples

The States and Union territories have been asked to submit a "larger number" of samples for whole genome sequencing from the districts and areas that have seen a surge in COVID-19 cases over a period of seven days, official sources said on June 18.

The direction was issued on Friday during a meeting of the INSACOG, which reviewed the COVID data to check the possibility of any new emerging variant or sub-variant and ascertain the reasons behind the breakthrough infections.

According to the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) experts, Omicron and its sub-lineages -- primarily BA.2 and BA.2.38 as of now -- seem to be behind the current rise in the number of COVID cases in the country, according to a source.

BA.2 and its sub-lineages account for over 85% of the COVID cases in India, with BA.2.38 being found in around 33% of the samples.

BA.4 and BA.5 are found in less than 10% samples, the source said.

"The idea behind asking the states and Union territories to send a larger number of samples is to keep a closer watch over the current circulating sub-lineages of Omicron and its correlation to the current epidemiological picture," an official told PTI.

"Also, we want to see if we are missing any important clues regarding newer sub-variants during routine sequencing through the sentinel surveillance," the official added.