Insacog Restructuring Considered Amid Declining Covid-19 Cases in India
Overview of Insacog's Role in Monitoring Covid-19
As new Covid-19 cases decrease in India, the government is contemplating a restructuring of Insacog, the Indian SARS-CoV2 Consortium established to track genomic variations in SARS-CoV-2. Insacog was launched in December 2020 with a mandate to sequence a minimum of 5% of Covid samples to ascertain infection patterns. Initially starting with ten government laboratories, it expanded to 38 centers, including private labs, during the peak of the pandemic.
Current Surveillance and Future Plans
Even though there is a decline in cases, Insacog continues to monitor emerging variants. Recent data suggests that all new variants are circulating in the population, but without clear clustering observed. Experts are set to meet and evaluate the necessity of keeping all current laboratories active or scaling down operations to a smaller number.
- Restructuring Insacog could lead to more focused efforts in genomic monitoring.
- The continued emergence of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and seasonal flu complicates clinical differentiation.
- Linkages between genomic variants and public health trends are under analysis.
This article was prepared using information from open sources in accordance with the principles of Ethical Policy. The editorial team is not responsible for absolute accuracy, as it relies on data from the sources referenced.