Lok Sabha Question No. 2013 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2021-07-30
Subject: New Strains of Coronavirus
Ministry: HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
Asked by: Nama Nageswara Rao

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

## LOK SABHA UN STARRED Q. No 2013 th

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 30 JULY, 2021

## NEW STRAINS OF CORONAVIRUS

## 2013 SHRI NAMA NAGESWARA RAO

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

- ( a) whether the new strains of Coronavirus like Delta plus, Lambda, etc. are more infecti so, details thereof;
- ( b) the reasons for the recent surge in Coronavirus cases in some States/UTs including K Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura, Odisha, Chhattisgarh and Manipur;
- ( c) the  steps  taken  by  the  Government  for  urgent  control  and  containment  measures  of disease; and
- ( d) thedetails of the efficacy of the vaccine available in the country in fighting the ex new strains of Coronavirus?

## ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE (DR. BHARTI PRAVIN PAWAR)

(a)  to  (d) : As  per  WHO,  there  is  some  evidence  to  indicate  higher  transmissibility  for  c infected with variants of SARS - CoV - 2 like Delta and Delta plus.

Ministry of Health & Family Welfare after expert deliberations has concluded that existing clinical manage ment protocol for managing COVID - 19 cases suffices for treatment of cases infected with variants of COVID -19 and doesn't warrant any change.

Easing of lockdown combined with pandemic fatigue, lack of community adherence to COVID  appropriate  behavior  and  ev olution  and  circulation  of  more  transmissible  variants  o SARS - CoV - 2 viruses can be attributed for the surge in Coronavirus cases in some States/U

Although  Health  is  a  state  subject,  Government  of  India  has  provided  the  requ technical  support  and  h as also  supported  the  states  through  logistic  and  financial  suppor further strengthen the existing health infrastructure to tackle COVID - 19 pandemic.

Some of the ongoing initiatives to further strengthen healthcare infrastructure incl

- A three - tier arrangement of dedicated COVID - 19 health facilities [(i) COVID Care Center (CCC); (ii) Dedicated COVID Health Centre (DCHC) and (iii) Dedicated COVID Hospital (DCH)] has been implemented in the country to reduce the risk of cross infection to -COVID pa tients as well as to maintain continuity of non - COVID essential health services in the country.
- Government of India has roped in tertiary care hospitals under other ministries to sup the hospital facilities. Further, many large temporary treatment facilities were established by DRDO to manage surge in COVID - 19 cases in the country. The isolation bed capacity and ICU bed capacity was also enhanced continuously .
- The  daily  liquid  medical  oxygen  (LMO)  supply  was  increased  by  enhancement  of  LMO productio n  in  steel  plants  as  well  as  in  other  LMO  plants.  Further,  restrictions  we imposed on industrial use of oxygen.
- Online  digital  solutions  viz.  Oxygen  Demand  Aggregation  system  (ODAS)  and  Oxygen Digital Tracking System (ODTS) have been developed to ascertain the demand for medica oxygen from all medical facilities and to track their transportation.
- To avoid wastage of medical oxygen, guidelines on rational use of oxygen were issued o 25 th September 2020, and further revised and disseminated to States on 25 th April 2021.
- To  generate  oxygen  at  the  health  facility  level,  PSA  plants  are  being  established district hospitals to reduce the burden on the medical oxygen supply grid across the co
- Further, to fast - track the availability of Medical Oxygen in rural and peri - urban areas, more than 39,000 oxygen concentrators have been allocated to various Stat es.
- A  COVID  Drugs  Management  Cell  (CDMC)  has  been  set  up  in  the  Department  of Pharmaceuticals  (DoP)  to  oversee  the  management  of  smooth  supply  of  drugs  used  i COVID - 19 management.
- Action is initiated at the National level to augment production of critic al drugs including import besides support in terms of equitable distribution of the critical supplies.
- A Drugs Coordination Committee (DCC) has been constituted as an institutional mechanis under Department of Pharmaceuticals for efficient decision makin g on all the issues with respect  to  COVID - 19  related  drugs  including  availability  through  inter - departmental consultations.
- All States/UT and State Drugs Controllers have been requested to verify stock of the and check other malpractices and take effe ctive steps to curb hoarding and black marketing of Remdesivir.

- Ministry of Health & Family Welfare continues to provide technical guidance for manag various aspects of COVID - 19. So far more than 150 guidelines/advisories/SoPs/plans have been provided to States/UTs.
- Further COVID- 19 treatment protocols and advisories both for adults as well as pediatri groups were issued and widely disseminated to promote rational use of drugs and oxygen.
- U nder the National COVID Vaccination Program, Government o f India is procuring vaccines and providing them free of cost to States and UTs. As on 25 th July 2021, a total of about 44.91  crore  doses  have  been  supplied  to  States/UTs  from  all  sources  i.e  Government India's Covid vaccine supply free of cost to all S tates/UTs, State/UTs and Private Hospitals procured Covid vaccine.

Union  Government  has  provided  financial  support  to  States/UTs  for  ramping  up  Healt Infrastructure and support all aspects of management of COVID - 19.

- During  the  F.Y.  2019 -20.  funds  to  th e  tune  of  Rs.1113.21  crore  was  released  to  the States/UTs under NHM.
- In September 2020, the Union Government allowed the states to spend maximum 35% of annual  allocation  of  funds  under  SDRF  for  the  financial  year  2019 - 20.  The  ceiling  was further enhanced t o 50% during the financial years 2020 - 21  and  2021 - 22  for  containment measures of COVID - 19.
- During  the  FY  2020 - 21,  funds  to  the  tune  of  Rs.8257.88  crore  has  been  released  to  t States/UTs towards the India COVID - 19 Emergency Response and  Health System Pre paredness Package.
- In addition, 'India COVID - 19 Emergency Response & Health System Preparedness Package: Phase II' has also been approved by the Cabinet with Rs 23,123 crores (with Rs. 15,000 Cr as Central Component & Rs 8,123 Cr as State component) and is to be implemented from 1st July 2021 to 31" March 2022.

ICMR - NIV has conducted in - vitro laboratory assays to determine the neutralization potentia variant  strains  of  SARS - CoV - 2  in  comparison  to  the  standard  strain  with  D614G  mutation. Similar  studi es  have  also  been  done  by  other  laboratories  across  the  world.  Data  of  in - vitro laboratory neutralization assays is as follows:

In case of Alpha variant, the baseline titres of neutralizing antibodies are high in both and Covaxin.

In case of Delta variant, the baseline titres of neutralizing antibodies are very high in and significantly high in Covaxin. These are sufficient to neutralize the delta variant both the vaccines.