Punjab to send 5% Covid positive samples to IGIB, NCDC to check new strain

CHANDIGARH: In a step to check the mutation of a new mutated strain (N501Y) of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the Punjab government has decided to send 5% of positive samples per week to the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB) and National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), the Delhi-division of biotechnology, epidemiology and central surveillance unit.

Principal secretary medical education and research D K Tiwari said it was part of the master plan conceived by the state government to contain the spread of the new strain in Punjab.

After the emergence of the new strain with high transmissibility, the central government had issued an advisory that the new strain could spresd in India too.

The officer said the Punjab health department had sent random positive samples — 80 from Viral Research and Diagnostic Laboratory (VRDL) of government medical college at Patiala, and 40 each from VRDL of government medical college at Amritsar and VRDL of government medical college at Faridkot — to check the emergence of new mutated virus strain to the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune. These samples were selected from September to December. He added that all the passengers who came from the UK were screened for Covid-19. Tiwari said that eight patients came positive for Covid-19 at VRDL at government medical college at Amritsar and one at VRDL at government medical college at Patiala. He added that these samples have also been sent to NIV Pune for sequencing to check new mutated virus strain.