Home Ministry has extended the COVID-19 guidelines issued under the Disaster Management Act, till 31st December.
In an order, the Ministry asked the States and UTs to go for rigorous screening and testing of all international arrivals. It said, these international travelers must also be closely tracked and tested as per Health Ministry’s guidelines and the samples of travelers turning positive are sent to the designated Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium INSACOG Genome Sequencing Laboratories promptly, as per the INSACOG Guidance Document. The Ministry said, State Surveillance Officers must establish a close coordination with the designated or tagged genome sequencing laboratories for expediting the results of genomic analysis and the States and UTs should immediately undertake necessary public health measures in case presence of variants of concern or variants of interest.
