An Indian genomics consortium has sequenced over 57,000 SARS-CoV-2 genomes out of which nearly 45,000 samples have been analysed, assigned pangolin lineage classification and submitted for public health correlation, Rajya Sabha was informed on 27th July.

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Different variants have been detected through the whole genome sequencing activities undertaken by Indian SARS CoV2 Genomic Consortium (INSACOG) and the information so obtained has been regularly shared with states and union territories to strengthen their public health response to the pandemic, Union Health Minister said in a written reply. The government had established INSACOG in December 2020 which is a consortium of 28 laboratories for whole genome sequencing and surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 variants in the light of the sudden outbreak of the new coronavirus variant in the UK. National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) is the coordinating agency for the consortium.

"The Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG), since inception has sequenced 57,476 SARS-CoV-2 genomes out of which 44,334 samples have been analysed and assigned Pangolin lineage classification and submitted to the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) for public health correlation," he said in the written reply. "It is also observed that few of the detected variants have contributed to surges across various regions. Further, other variants are also being monitored by INSACOG for their potential role in disease transmission dynamics," the reply stated.

As there have been reports of new variants being associated with the COVID-19 surge in many countries, the need was felt to augment the genome sequencing capacity of the laboratories. Accordingly, the network of INSACOG laboratories has now been increased to 28 labs. Currently, the turn-around time from sample collection to sequencing data generation and variant calling is two weeks, the minister informed. The INSACOG has revised SOPs to reduce turnaround time to 7-10 days, the reply said.

Analysis of the genomic data is a continuous and ongoing process. Periodic updates are shared with experts and are also made available in the public domain through the weekly media bulletin of INSACOG. In order to ensure timely availability of reports and to ensure smooth flow of information among stakeholders, MoHFW has recently brought whole-genome sequencing (WGS) related data on IDSP-IHIP portal. The results are immediately made available to the states and their sentinel sites as soon as they are uploaded by the INSACOG Genome Sequencing Lab, the reply stated.