COVID-19 has never been zero but surveillance and testing scaled up: ICMR NIV Director

Pune (Maharashtra) [India], June 19 (ANI): As the Covid-19 active cases are dropping constantly after a peak for a few weeks, ICMR-NIV Pune Director Dr Naveen Kumar said the cases of the Singapore strain Nimbus variant has also been reported in India.
"ICMR - NIV is involved in doing the diagnosis as well as the genomic analysis of the SARS-COV-2 variants, which are circulating... We are getting the SARS-COV-2 strains positive in the respiratory samples," Kumar said.
He further said, "So it has never been zero; maybe cases were very few, but after the rise of the number of cases in Singapore and other neighbouring countries, we also observed that the strain which is circulating in Singapore which was also being observed here in the last 5-6 weeks. So we also increased our surveillance and testing."
Dr Naveen stated that currently circulating variants have been isolated and these variants are Omicron sub variants, "there is an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases and the virus which was circulating in our country in the last many months was JN.1, LF.7, XFG and NB.1.8.1. So they are currently circulating strains.
"So as of now, they have not shown to be that severe. We are isolating all the currently circulating strains," he said.
Recently, in an exclusive interview with ANI, Dr Rajiv Bahl, DG, ICMR, said the government is focusing on transmission, surveillance and preparedness, but currently circulating variants have mild symptoms like Omicron.
"The government and health agencies are closely monitoring COVID-19 cases and taking necessary steps. Currently, the number of active cases is low, and most cases are limited to southern and western India. The government is focusing on three key factors. The rate of transmission and the rapidly increasing cases. Whether the virus is evading our natural and vaccine-induced immunity. Whether the current infections are more severe than before or have mild symptoms like Omicron."
Regarding vaccine preparedness, he said, "The government has developed platforms to create new vaccines. If a new variant emerges in the future, the government has two options. Evaluate the effectiveness of existing vaccines and develop a new vaccine specifically targeting the new variant."
"The government claims to be prepared and capable of quickly developing vaccines if needed. The situation is currently under control, but the government remains vigilant and is making necessary preparations," he said. (ANI)