No cases of COVID's BF.7 variant in Delhi so far, says LNJP Hospital official, urges people to take booster dose

By Shalini Bhardwaj
New Delhi [India], December 22 (ANI): The national capital has not reported any cases of BF.7 variant of COVID's Omicron so far, an official said, while also adding that the Centre has instructed to conduct the genome sequencing of every case being reported.
Dr Suresh, MD, Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital said that LNJP hospital being the largest in the country which has been providing treatment for COVID patients, is vigilant and has a preparation including the ICU beds.
"BF.7 is the sub-variant of Omicron. Its cases have increased in some countries including China, South Korea, Japan, Brazil and the USA since last week. There are four cases of BF.7 in India from Odisha and Gujarat which are the cases of the previous month. No cases of the BF.7 variant of Omicron have been reported in the city so far. The cases are negligible. We are vigilant regarding this new variant. The Centre has instructed to conduct genome sequencing of every case," Dr Suresh told ANI.
Detailing the preparedness of the hospital in case there is a surge in COVID cases in the city, he said that the hospital has got its own genome sequencing lab and separate labour room for the infected mother as well.
"People with comorbidities like heart disease, cancer etc need more care from COVID. We have COVID 450 beds, 50 ICU beds and other facilities. We have a genome sequencing lab to ascertain the kind of virus a person is being infected from," he said.
Expressing concern over the low percentage of booster doses administered in the country, the official also appealed to the people to get themselves jabbed with the precaution dose to strengthen their fight against COVID.
"A majority of the population has not taken the booster dose. I would like to appeal to the people to take the booster dose, especially those who are elderly," he said.
Earlier today, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said that the government has started random RT-PCR sampling among the passengers arriving at International airports in the country amid the recent surge of Coronavirus infection in various countries including China, Japan, South Korea, France, and United States.
"We have also started the random RT-PCR sampling among passengers arriving at International airports in the country. We are committed to tackling the pandemic and are taking appropriate steps," Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said in his statement in the Lok Sabha while advising the States to make sure that people wear masks, use sanitizers and maintain social distancing even during the festive and the New Year season.
He also encouraged the states to increase awareness towards precautionary doses against Coronavirus.
"We are keeping an eye on the global Covid situation and are taking steps accordingly. The States are advised to increase genome-sequencing to timely identify the new variant of Covid-19," Mandaviya added.
Notably, Mandaviya chaired a high-level meeting on Wednesday to review the COVID-19 situation in India and the preparedness of the public health system for surveillance, containment, and management of COVID-19. He urged people to follow COVID-appropriate behaviour and get vaccinated against the virus.
Emphasizing that COVID-19 is not over yet, he asked the officials to be fully geared up and strengthen surveillance.
Mandaviya has already directed the officials to be fully geared up and strengthen the surveillance system for whole genome sequencing of positive case samples to track the variants through the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) network to ensure the timely detection of newer variants, if any, circulating in the country. (ANI)