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Amid fresh global surge, is India at further risk of covid wave?

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Sequencing woes To achieve that, India still needs to ramp up genomic sequencing, the key to identifying new variants, even as vaccinations continue, epidemiologists said.

Last year, South African scientists were lauded for identifying Omicron in time. But a similar feat from India is tougher: its sequencing rate is agonisingly poor ().

India has sequenced just 0.36% of its covid-positive samples and takes an average 59 days between detecting a positive sample and reporting the variant, far slower than most countries with high caseloads.

If a variant were to emerge in India, the world may be clueless until after two months have passed. Genome sequencing needs investment and training, but a low healthcare budget has left India wanting, experts say.

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