Editor's Pick: Health Minister’s meeting on COVID-19 variant

In view of the rising COVID cases globally, Health Minister Mansukh Mandviya convened a meeting of senior officials in the government and the National COVID-19 taskforce to assess the situation in India. The officials stated that the spike in China did not imply a grave threat to India; but it is advised that people adhere to COVID-appropriate behaviour, get vaccinated and states increase genomic surveillance. Some states have also suggested they would increase random testing of passengers at airports. India has witnessed a “steady decline” in cases, with about 158 daily new cases being reported in the week ending December 19. Globally however, there has been a rise in the daily averages in the past six weeks, with about 6 lakh instances being reported each week as of December 19, the Health Ministry informed. Omicron AB5 continues to be the dominant variant in India which is linked to the BF.7 variant - believed to be responsible for the surge in COVID-19 cases in China. The first case of the variant was identified in India as far back as July. Four instances of the Omicron subvariant was genome-sequenced in Gujarat and Odisha in the subsequent months. However, it was not linked to increased severity or infectiousness in the two states, two officials part of the meeting convened by the Health Minister stated. “Whether BF.7 behaves differently in a population that has been minimally exposed to the coronavirus as opposed to Indians who have hybrid immunity (multiple doses of the vaccine along with exposure to several variants of the virus) is being investigated by the Indian Council of Medical Research,” one of the officials told The Hindu. It is learnt from an expert that India’s real worry however, is the XBB variant- which is recombinant variant of a combination of two lineages (BJ.1 and BA.2.75). It is highly infectious and can evade antibodies from existing vaccines. Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Head over to our newsletter subscription page to sign up for Editor‘s Pick and more. Click here. The Hindu’s Editorials A concerning sequence: On a new coronavirus strain and a spurt in cases in China Ties with Taliban: On why India should stop engaging with the repressive regime The Hindu’s Daily News Quiz What is the name of the company that manufactures Yoga Guru Ramdev’s Patanjali products, blacklisted by Nepal’s drug regulatory authority? Divya Pharmacy Niranjan Pharmacy Aglowmed Ashwin Med To know the answer and to play the full quiz, click here. [logo] Editor's Pick 22 DECEMBER 2022 [The Hindu logo] In the Editor's Pick newsletter, The Hindu explains why a story was important enough to be carried on the front page of today's edition of our newspaper. [Arrow]( [Open in browser]( [Mail icon]( [More newsletters]( Dear reader, We have now made it easier for you to manage your The Hindu newsletter subscriptions in one place! 1. Visit [The Hindu newsletters page]( 2. Click MANAGE tab and then click LOGIN / SIGN UP 3. If you don’t have an account with The Hindu, please click SIGN UP OR If you already have an account with The Hindu with this email ID, please login using the email ID Health Minister’s meeting on COVID-19 variant In view of the rising COVID cases globally, Health Minister Mansukh Mandviya convened a meeting of senior officials in the government and the National COVID-19 taskforce to assess the situation in India. The officials stated that [the spike in China]( did not imply a grave threat to India; but it is advised that people adhere to COVID-appropriate behaviour, get vaccinated and states increase genomic surveillance. Some states have also suggested they would increase random testing of passengers at airports. India has witnessed a “steady decline” in cases, with about 158 daily new cases being reported in the week ending December 19. Globally however, there has been a rise in the daily averages in the past six weeks, with about 6 lakh instances being reported each week as of December 19, the Health Ministry informed. Omicron AB5 continues to be the dominant variant in India which is linked to the BF.7 variant - believed to be responsible for the surge in COVID-19 cases in China. The first case of the variant was identified in India as far back as July. Four instances of the Omicron subvariant was genome-sequenced in Gujarat and Odisha in the subsequent months. However, it was not linked to increased severity or infectiousness in the two states, two officials part of the meeting convened by the Health Minister stated. “Whether BF.7 behaves differently in a population that has been minimally exposed to the coronavirus as opposed to Indians who have hybrid immunity (multiple doses of the vaccine along with exposure to several variants of the virus) is being investigated by the Indian Council of Medical Research,” one of the officials told The Hindu. It is learnt from an expert that India’s real worry however, is the XBB variant- which is recombinant variant of a combination of two lineages (BJ.1 and BA.2.75). It is highly infectious and can evade antibodies from existing vaccines. Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Head over to our newsletter subscription page to sign up for Editor‘s Pick and more. [Click here.]( The Hindu’s Editorials [Arrow][A concerning sequence: On a new coronavirus strain and a spurt in cases in China]( [Arrow][Ties with Taliban: On why India should stop engaging with the repressive regime]( The Hindu’s Daily News Quiz What is the name of the company that manufactures Yoga Guru Ramdev’s Patanjali products, blacklisted by Nepal’s drug regulatory authority? - Divya Pharmacy - Niranjan Pharmacy - Aglowmed - Ashwin Med To know the answer and to play the full quiz, [click here](. Interested in daily updates from Tamil Nadu? Subscribe to the brand new "Tamil Nadu Today" daily newsletter to know the latest and most important news from TN [Subscribe Now!]( Today’s Best Reads [[COVID-19 | Step up surveillance, wear masks, says Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya amid Covid concerns] COVID-19 | Step up surveillance, wear masks, says Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya amid Covid concerns]( [[Oscars 2023: Gujarati film Chhello Show and Naatu Naatu from S.S. 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