The Health department has decided to strengthen vigil against COVID-19 following the reporting of the new and emerging subvariants XBB and XBB.1 in many parts of the world.
A high-level meeting convened here on Monday by Health Minister Veena George discussed the current COVID situation in the State and across the country and directed all districts to be on the alert against a rise in COVID cases.
XBB, a recombinant lineage between two Omicron Sublineages BJ.1 and BA.2.75, has already notched up over 70 cases across Maharashtra, West Bengal, Odisha and Tamil Nadu. XBB.1 is the sublineage of XBB . Both subvariants were reported first in Singapore and parts of the U.S. and is now seen in Bangladesh and Europe too.
Singapore is now going through a surge in COVID cases, with the daily caseload exceeding 10,000 because of XBB. According to the Singapore Ministry of Health website, XBB seems to account for 55% of the daily cases. Even though Singapore is watching XBB “very closely”, there is no evidence that the new sub-variant is leading to more severe outcomes, it has been reported.
XBB is by far one of the most antibody evasive variants of SARS CoV-2, with the potential to evade a wide spectrum of monoclonal antibodies and antibodies produced by vaccination, infection or combinations, research suggests.
Of those getting infected, about 1.8 % may require hospitalisation, experts pointed out at the meeting.
Ms. George directed that an alert be sounded to the public against a possible surge in cases . She urged the public not to be lax about masking in public places and closed spaces. Elderly and those with chronic diseases and in an immunocompromised state should necessarily wear masks.
She also urged all, especially the elderly and health workers, to take the precaution vaccination dose without delay.
That said, the meeting pointed out that COVID cases have been on the decline in the State, reporting fewer than 1,000 cases daily. Samples are being sent regularly for genomic studies to detect the possible emergence of new variants and in the new circumstances, more samples would be sent for genomic analysis.
Ms. George directed that hospital and ICU admissions be monitored strictly.
As influenza cases are being reported in large numbers, mimicking COVID, the Health department will soon issue a new set of guidelines for managing those with influenza.
Additional Chief Secretary (Health) Asha Thomas, Principal Secretary (Health) Tinku Biswal, NHM State Mission Director S. Karthikeyan, Director of Medical Education Thomas Mathew, DHS in-charge V. Meenakshy, ADHS (Public Health) Sakeena, Director of the Institute of Advanced Virology E. Sreekumar, among others, participated in the meeting.
