Lok Sabha Question No. 158 (STARRED), answered on 2022-02-11
Subject: COVID-19 Variants
Ministry: HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
Asked by: Thirumaa Valavan Thol

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.158 TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 11 TH  FEBRUARY, 2022

## COVID-19 VARIANTS

## *158. SHRI THIRUMAAVALAVAN THOL:

Will the Minister of HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has collected data pertaining to Variants of Concern and Variants of Interest which were detected in the country during COVID-19 pandemic;
- (b) if so, the details of such variants/strains thereof;
- (c)  whether  the  Government  has  adequate  facilities  for  early  detection  and  advance strategies for prevention of the spread of such variants in the country; and
- (d) if so, the details thereof?

## THE MINISTER OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE

## ANSWER (DR MANSUKH MANDAVIYA)

- (a) to (d) A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

## STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 158* FOR 11 TH  FEBRUARY, 2022

(a)  to  (d):  The  Indian  SARS-CoV-2  Genomics  Consortium  (INSACOG),  jointly initiated by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and Department of Biotechnology (DBT) with Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and Indian  Council  of  Medical  Research  (ICMR),  is  a  consortium  of  laboratories  to monitor the genomic variations in the SARS-CoV-2.

As per the data from INSACOG, 84,386 cases of VoCs and 5606 cases of VoIs have so far been sequenced in the country, as part of the larger set of all sequences done of SARS-CoV-2 virus. The lineage wise break up is at Annexure I.

At present, 52 laboratories across India are working  under  INSACOG consortium  to  monitor  the  genomic  variations  in  SARS-CoV-2.  The  details  are  at Annexure II. For the sentinel surveillance, nearly 300 sentinel sites are identified to send samples to the regional sequencing labs through the integrated disease surveillance programme network. Sentinel site are expected to send at least 15 samples every  15  days  to  the  identified  IGSL  as  per  standard  specimen  collection  procure. Additionally, surge sampling of vaccine failures, atypical clinical presentations, super spreader  events  is  also  undertaken.  Besides  this,  in  view  of  threat  of  new  variants (including the recent Omicron variant) entering from abroad, a Point of Entry (PoEs) screening is also undertaken.

The network carries out whole genome sequencing of SARS-Cov-2 to identify existing Variants of Concern (VoCs), Variants of Interest (VoIs) and new mutations and variants which could help in understanding of correlation of genomic variants with how  the  virus  spreads,  disease  severity  and  provide  information  for  public  health response.

Health is a State subject. Union Ministry of Health & FW is supporting States through  technical  guidance  for  managing  various  aspects  of  COVID-19  including containment and surveillance, testing, management of co-morbidities, clinical management protocols, post-COVID sequale, etc. besides logistic and funding support to manage the pandemic.

Annexure-I

Lineage wise break up of SARS-CoV-2 variants reported by INSACOG network of labs

| VOC   | VOC   | VOC   | VOC   | VOC        | VOC     | VOC    | VOI   | VOI           | VOI   |
|-------|-------|-------|-------|------------|---------|--------|-------|---------------|-------|
| Alpha | Beta  | Gamma | Delta | Delta Plus | Omicron | Total  | Kappa | Eta (B.1.525) | Total |
| 4265  | 220   | 3     | 42571 | 19967      | 17360   | 84,386 | 5603  | 3             | 5606  |

## INSACOG network of laboratories

| S.No.   | Institute Name                                                                                |
|---------|-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| 1       | National Institute of Biomedical Genomics (NIBMG), Kalyani, West Bengal                       |
| 2       | Institute of Life Science (ILS), Bhubaneshwar                                                 |
| 3       | Institute of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine (InSTEM/NCBS), Bengaluru             |
| 4       | Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics (CDFD), Hyderabad                               |
| 5       | National Centre for Cell Science (NCCS), Pune                                                 |
| 6       | CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB), Delhi                              |
| 7       | CSIR Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad                              |
| 8       | National institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences Hospital (NIMHANS), Bengaluru           |
| 9       | ICMR- National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune                                              |
| 10      | National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Delhi                                             |
| 11      | North East Institute of Science and Technology (NEIST), Jorhat, Assam                         |
| 12      | National Chemical Laboratory (NCL), Pune, Maharashtra                                         |
| 13      | Central Drug Research Institute (CDRI), Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh                                |
| 14      | National Botanical Research Institute (NBRI), Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh                          |
| 15      | Indian Institute of Chemical Biology (IICB), Kolkata, West Bengal                             |
| 16      | Institute of Microbial Technology (IMTECH), Chandigarh                                        |
| 17      | Institute of Bioresources and Sustainable Development (IBSD), Imphal, Manipur                 |
| 18      | Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB), Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala                      |
| 19      | National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis (NIRT), Chennai, Tamil Naidu                  |
| 20      | Regional Medical Research Centre (RMRC), Bhubaneswar, Odisha                                  |
| 21      | Regional Medical Research Centre (RMRC), Dibrugarh, Assam                                     |
| 22      | Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR), Bengaluru, Karnataka       |
| 23      | All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi                                            |
| 24      | Centre for Brain Research Indian Institute of Science (CBR-IISc), Bangalore, Karnataka        |
| 25      | Byramjee Jeejeebhoy Government Medical College (BJGMC), Pune, Maharashtra                     |
| 26      | Gujarat Biotechnology Research Centre (GBRC), Gandhinagar, Gujarat                            |
| 27      | Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences (ILBS), New Delhi                                     |
| 28      | Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune                              |
| 29      | Translational Health Science and Technology Institute (THSTI), Faridabad, Haryana             |
| 30      | Indra Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (IGIMS), Patna                                     |
| 31      | Government Doon Medical College, Dehradun                                                     |
| 32      | Mahatma Gandhi Medical College (MGMC), Jaipur                                                 |
| 33      | All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Bhopal                                       |
| 34      | Gandhi Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Secunderabad, A.P.                                |
| 35      | Sri Aurobindo Institute of Medical Sciences &Post Graduate Institute (SAIMS &PGI), Indore     |
| 37      | Kempegowda Institute of Medical Sciences                                                      |
|         | (KIMS), Bengaluru                                                                             |
| 38      | Kasturba Gandhi Hospital For Infectious Diseases, Mumbai                                      |
| 39      | Lok Nayak Hospital, Delhi                                                                     |
| 40      | SMS Medical College, Jaipur                                                                   |
| 41      | Pasteur Institute Shillong, Meghalaya                                                         |
| 42 43   | State Public Health Laboratory (SPHL), Chennai                                                |
|         | Next Generation Genomics Sequencing Lab MDURohtak                                             |
| 44      | Mysore Medical College &Research Institute, Mysuru                                            |
| 45      | Bangalore Medical College &Research Institute (BMCRI), Bengaluru                              |
| 46      | Defence Research &Development Establishment (DRDE), Gwalior                                   |
| 47      | CSIR- National Environmental Engineering Research Institute (CSIR-NEERI), Nagpur, Maharashtra |
| 48      | IMS, Banaras                                                                                  |
| 49 50   | Siddhartha medical college Vijayawada National Institute of Immunology, Delhi                 |
|         | Shri Vinoba Bhave College &NAMOMEDICAL EDUCATION &RESEARCH Silvassa, Dadra and Nagar Haveli,  |
| 51      | INSTITUTE, Lucknow                                                                            |
| 52      | King George's Medical University (KGMU),                                                      |