Centre issues advisory to states amid COVID-19 surge in India

The Centre on Monday issued advisory to states in view of a recent upsurge in COVID-19 cases and detection of first case of JN.1 variant in India. The latest advisory comes after Kerala reported an increase in number of cases, prompting neighbouring Karnataka to also ramp up coronavirus measures. The central government has asked states to maintain constant vigil over the Covid situation and report and monitor district-wise SARI and ILI cases on a regular basis.

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The states have also been advised to ensure adequate testing including higher number of RT-PCR tests; and send positive samples for genome sequencing to INSACOG laboratories. The states have been asked to monitor and report district-wise influenza-like illness and severe acute respiratory illness cases in all health facilities on a regular basis. In the wake of the surge in respiratory diseases and the new JN.1 Covid sub-variant, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said that the virus is evolving and changing and urged the member states to continue with strong surveillance and sequence sharing. "Ensure a higher number of of RT-PCR tests and send the positive samples for genome sequencing to Indian SARS COV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) laboratories so as to enable timely detection of new variants, if any, in the country,' the Centre told states.