Vijayapura: On the one hand, the number of Covid cases, mainly the Omicron variant, are increasing sharply in various parts of the State, while on the other hand, the BJP Government has not been able to establish genome sequencing labs in six districts as yet.

The Government had announced plans to set up these labs in six districts including Vijayapura for the faster testing of swab samples. The districts where the labs were supposed to come up are Bengaluru, Mysuru, Vijayapura, Mangaluru, Dharwad, and Shivamogga. It may be noted that when Covid – 19 variant Delta was at its peak, the State Government had announced that it would set up genome sequencing labs in six districts in June 2021.

Among the six labs four have been planned to set up in medical colleges and two at the district civil hospitals.  With no genome sequencing labs available in North Karnataka (NK) all the districts in this region are dependent on the virology lab of National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIHMANS) Bengaluru.

Even after six months the State Government is yet to set up a lab in at least one out of the six districts in which it has promised. The sources claimed that the workload has increased on NIHMANS virology lab as it is the only lab in which the genome sequencing of the samples of all the 31 districts of the State is being performed.

According to the officials of the Department of Health and Family Welfare (DHFW), “It will cost around Rs. 2.4 Crore to set up a genome sequencing lab where the lab equipment is estimated at Rs. 2 Crore.”

D. Randeep, Commissioner of DHFW said that they are expediting the process to set up genome sequencing labs in all the six districts. “The process is getting delayed as we are yet to get the approval from the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomic Consortia (INSACOG). As soon as we get the approval, we will set up the labs in all the six districts as we already have the infrastructure.”

According to sources, the Union Health Ministry has written a letter to INSACOG asking it to give approval for setting up the genome sequencing labs in Karnataka. On condition of anonymity, an official from District Health and Family Welfare from Vijayapura, pointed out that, “We are currently sending the samples for genome sequencing to a lab in NIHMANS. If the lab is set up in the district it will help detect Covid variants early and then take necessary precautions to restrict the spread of the variant.”

DC P. Sunil Kumar said that, “Once the patient tests Covid positive, we will consider it as a new variant and provide treatment accordingly. We will not wait until the results of genome sequencing are announced. We are stressing for proper triaging in the Primary Health Centre and Taluk Health Centre itself. We have sent many samples for genome sequencing  but so far no new variant has been reported in the District,” he claimed.