India has experienced two waves of the epidemic in 2020 and 2021.
India’s health ministry has declared an alert following a surge in Covid cases in neighboring China.
The government has instructed the country’s states to ensure the traceability and identification of virus strains in all positive cases.
He also called on state governments to step up efforts to limit any possible spread during the Christmas and New Year celebrations.
India has witnessed two deadly waves of Covid in 2020 and 2021, but infection levels have dropped this year.
The country, according to government data, registers almost 1,200 cases of Covid every week.
More than 2.2 billion doses of the Covid vaccine have been administered so far.
The federal government on Tuesday asked states to send Covid samples from all infected patients to laboratories run by the Ministry of Health’s main center, which studies and monitors different strains of Covid in India.
The move came amid growing concerns over the spread of COVID-19 in China after the recent easing of strict lockdown measures.
Hospitals and medical facilities in China are under increasing pressure, as those who test positive at home seek medical support.
Federal Health Minister Rajesh Bhushan said in a letter to all states that it was important to track the new variants through genome tracking because “The sudden surge in cases seen in Japan, the United States, the Republic of Korea, Brazil and China”.
He said this will help authorities detect new variants and take steps to contain them.
Health Minister Mansukh Mandavia met with senior officials on Wednesday to review the situation and step up monitoring.
India was one of the hardest hit countries during the first two waves of Covid. Millions of people have been affected and more than 530,000 people have died, according to official figures.
But experts believe the true number of deaths from Covid could be much higher because many of the cases in which people have died have not been tested or have not been reported in official numbers.
The government was heavily criticized for its poor preparation during the second wave in the summer of 2021, when many people died due to lack of oxygen and vital medicines.
