New Delhi: The new Covid strain from the UK can destabilise the country’s preparations against the virus, the central government said Tuesday, adding that people now have to be extra careful since the mutation may have its own run here.
“This new mutation from the UK that has shown contagiousness more than the classical one that is of concern to us. But we were expecting it since mutations happen, but since it has come, it can destabilise our preparation, our system,” said V.K. Paul, Niti Aayog Member (Health), during the health ministry’s press briefing.
Earlier in the day, the ministry had confirmed the variant was detected in six UK returnees.
Paul further noted, “This variant has travelled to various countries and now India. This variant may have its own run and therefore we have to be very careful.”
On the government’s decision to extend travel restrictions on flights from the UK, Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said, “We assume that the National Task Force on Covid-19 and the scientific task force on Covid-19 will be meeting shortly, and based on their inputs, the government will be taking a decision.”
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Effects of the new variant
In the briefing, Professor Vijay Raghavan, principal scientific advisor to the government, reiterated the Centre’s stand that the existing vaccines work against the new strain.
“The vaccines in the pipeline will work against the variants that have been detected in the UK and South Africa … there is no need to worry about it at this stage,” he said.
Last week, the health ministry had also specified that the mutation is not likely to have an effect on the severity of the infection.
However, Raghavan, pointed out that if “transmission increases, it increases the number of people who are affected and therefore the number of severe-diseased people”.
Meanwhile, ICMR Director-General Dr Balram Bhargav said that Covid therapies that are not beneficial should be not be used since they lead to such mutations.
“While we have to maintain the judicious use of therapies which are going to benefit … if their benefit is not established, we should not use those therapies, otherwise they will put a tremendous pressure on the virus and the virus will tend to mutate more,” he said.
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Three responses
Paul also listed out three responses to the current situation with the new Covid strain — a scientific response, a public health response and the public response.
He noted that the process for gene sequencing has been formalised and a Standard of Procedure for the same has been established. The Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium or INSACOG has been set up to overlook genome sequencing.
“ICMR has also decided that in the patients in which the variant is detected, if the disease is less or more serious will be studied … beyond gene sequencing, to understand the nature of the variant,” said Paul
About the public health response, he said that the cluster containment strategy will be followed “to break the chains of transmission”.
Paul also appealed to the general public to follow Covid-appropriate behaviour, including social distancing measures and masking.
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