Following reporting of two cases of Covid-19 in the provisional state capital the health department has become alert.  The department has stepped up the hospital based surveillance and the doctors have been asked to keep an eye on the cases of influenza. The patients of Severe Acute Respiratory Illness (SARI) are being tested for Covid-19. On December 30, the first case of the disease in the year 2023 was reported when the sample of a 77 year old male patient admitted in a private hospital was found positive. A day later, a 72 year old female patient admitted in the Government Doon Medical College (GDMC) hospital was also found positive. The State nodal officer, Integrated Disease Surveillance Programme (IDSP), Dr Pankaj Singh said that the samples of both these patients have been sent for genome sequencing and the report is expected within a week. The genome sequencing is done to determine the strain of the coronavirus. The new variant JN.1 of Covid-19 is increasing in different parts of the country and genome sequencing will inform whether the two new cases of the disease are of new variant or not.

 Dr Singh said that 80 to 100 samples of patients are being tested for Covid-19 daily in the government and private labs in the State. He said that the cases of seasonal flu increase during winters as many viruses become active. Dr Singh said that strict monitoring of flu patients is being done and the department is on an alert mode.

 The health secretary R Rajesh Kumar has directed all the district magistrates (DM) and the chief medical officers (CMO) to ensure that the guidelines for prevention of spread of Covid-19 are followed in the hospitals. He said that the patients suffering from respiratory illness, lung and heart ailments should be monitored and tested. The secretary has directed that the operational guidelines for revised surveillance strategy in the context of Covid-19 should be followed and the patients suffering from Influenza like illness (ILI) and SARI should be tested for Covid-19.