BENGALURU: Genomic surveillance for air passengers and symptomatic patients should continue, to ensure preparedness against any new variants, experts suggest. Surveillance testing reports for air passengers and symptomatic patients have not shown any new variants emerging lately. The Total Positivity Rate (TPR) has also remained below 5 per cent over the past few months.
Dr MK Sudarshan, Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) chairman, said genomic surveillance, lab testing and sewage water surveillance are being done across the state. Though the frequency of testing has reduced, it is not advisable to stop it completely, he said. If surveillance is stopped now, it will be very difficult to start the entire process again. It is also the only way of connecting all three surveys together, determining the emergence of new viruses, he added.
Continuous surveillance is needed to ensure that any new emerging viruses are studied at the earliest, to take necessary precautionary measures when required, Dr Sudarshan explained. The efforts are also in alignment with guidelines laid down by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and hence, should be continued.
Clinical or lab testing has been affected lately due to people’s lack of interest in taking tests or even getting vaccinated, he added. The severity of Covid in terms of deaths and ICU hospitalisation has been very low, with only two deaths reported in the past two months. Hospitalisation of people suffering from Covid is also rare, he said, adding that in most cases, people are discharged in two or three days.
Officials from the Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute (BMCRI) said weekly testing is still being carried out in the city. Though no new variants have not been found in recent reports, surveillance testing will be continued until the health department directs otherwise. As on Friday, 172 active cases were seen in Karnataka, with a TPR of 0.89 per cent.