In Pune, samples are sent from the network of private laboratories, apart from municipal and state health authorities. Samples from other places are also sent to Pune's labs and further for genome sequencing, which has helped identify as many as 150 JN.1 variant cases in Pune.
According to the Union Ministry of Health data, there were 5.33 lakh deaths due to Covid alone since March 2020. However, a vast majority of people did not get any insurance benefit as insurance penetration is very low in the country.
The Indian government is directing states to send samples of all COVID-19 test swabs for whole genome sequencing to monitor concerning variants of the virus.
India News: India recorded 614 new coronavirus infections, the highest since May 21, while the active cases have increased to 2,311, according to the Union health