Hubballi (Karnataka), Dec 7 : The Karnataka government has already initiated action to establish genome sequencing labs in the state, and the Health Secretary has been instructed to look into the needs of procuring necessary equipment and experts for the purpose, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai said on Tuesday.
Addressing media persons at his residence in Hubballi, he said: “All the districts have Covid testing labs.Genome sequencing requires expert systems and the latest equipment.Omicron has spread and necessitated that test samples were sent in suspected cases to NCBS for Omicron testing.
The test reports will be sent quickly and arrangements would be made for this purpose.
Everyday, at least 30 samples are sent for genomic sequencing to keep an eye on Omicron infection spreading in the state.
Presently, only two labs in the state, one at the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) and NIMHANS have approval from Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) to conduct genomic sequence tests.
Considering the inflow of international travellers and samples collected from the community, the burden will be more on conducting whole genomic sequencing (WGS).
The state has announced that six WGS labs would be opened during the peak of the second wave at various medical colleges in the state.
The state government has already procured equipment for four labs at Hassan, Belagavi, Mysuru, and the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Medical College in Bengaluru and is awaiting the approval of INSACOG.
The equipment has been installed and the staff has been trained.The state is also seeking approval from the Centre to recognize test results from private hospitals where the facility is available.
As per the present rule, the state can’t send samples for WGS to private labs.
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