Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal inaugurated the SARS CoV2 genome sequencing facility at the LNJP Hospital on Wednesday to identify variants of the coronavirus.
Addressing the media, Kejriwal said: “We will be able to identify and analyse all the variants of Covid-19 for any future waves or spreads in Delhi through this machine.”
“The facility will be mainly for surveillance and public health purposes as the identification of the variants of concern would be done. It will be an asset not only for the national Capital but for the entire North India,” the Government said in a statement.
“Launched a Covid genome-sequencing facility at the LNJP Hospital, Delhi. New variants of the coronavirus are emerging all over the world. The lethality of any new variant of the virus can be detected in this laboratory in Delhi so that the Government can work on a strategy to stop its spread,” Kejriwal said in a tweet in Hindi.
“We have been constantly reading in newspapers that new variants and mutations of Covid-19 are emerging every day. To get our samples tested, we were dependent upon the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), the laboratory of the Central Government,” the Chief Minister said.
“This SARS CoV2 genome sequencing facility is being set up in LNJP and ILBS as a part of the Delhi Government’s preparations to tackle the possible third wave of Covid-19. We will be able to strategise our preparations well and it will help in taking the right actions,” he added.
The Chief Minister appealed to the public to follow social distancing and take the right precautions now that the activities were being opened up, else the virus might spread again.
“The Covid-19 pandemic is still ongoing, and new viral variants are rapidly emerging, leading to recurrent outbreaks as the Covid-19 is notorious for undergoing mutations. nce to identify the circulating viral strains so that contact tracing can be done to check the further spread of variants. The SARS CoV2 genome sequencing facilities are a part of the Delhi Government’s preparations to tackle a possible third wave of the pandemic,” he added.
“This machine would be able to sequence five to seven samples in a day with a turnaround time of about four to five days. This facility will be mainly for surveillance and public health purposes as identification of the variance of concern in interest would be done,” he said.
The Government further said that the facility is being set up to aid and address the larger public interest considering the case fatality and re-emergence of Covid-19 outbreaks due to different SARS CoV2 strains.