Punjab to set aggressive contact tracing to contain Delta+ variant

CHANDIGARH: In view of the new COVID-19 cases of Delta plus variant, Vini Mahajan, Chief Secretary of Punjab, on June 27, directed the state’s health authorities to ensure testing, surveillance and aggressive contact tracing to contain further spread of the fatal variant of the coronavirus. Mahajan chaired a meeting of the state’s COVID-19 response group on Sunday. He said that two cases of Delta plus variant had been reported in the state, one each from Ludhiana and Patiala.

Mahajan informed that a proposal on installation of a whole genome sequencing machine at the Government Medical College, Patiala, was being taken up by the medical education and research department and the Punjab Health Systems Corporation (PHSC). In order to save data-processing time at labs, she has ordered to add barcodes to COVID-19 samples to enable automated data fetching and ease in early facilitation reports. She added that a draft policy was being prepared to tackle any more possible waves of COVID-19 infections while reviewing the state’s efforts to quash the anticipated third wave of COVID-19.

Mahajan said that the data regarding vaccination, disease outcome, and whole genome sequencing has already been linked to Cova mobile app, and other parameters are set to be linked soon. Moreover, she asked health authorities to closely monitor districts with a high positivity rate of infections. District epidemiologists have been directed to identify pockets that are reporting higher number of cases.