BENGALURU: Considering the gradual rise of Omicron’s BA.5 sub-variant in Covid-19 samples surveyed in Bengaluru, scientists feel it might replace the BA.2 sub-variant in a month or two.
“We may not know if it will eliminate BA.2, but there is a chance of that happening,” said
Dr Ramesh Hariharan
, CEO and co-founder of Strand Life Sciences.
The government has been preparing its public health plan and working on the ground based on Covid-related genomic surveillance data and insights provided by Strand Life Sciences, since July 2021.
The private laboratory is working in partnership with
BBMP
for almost a year now, helping the civic body in the survey and studying
RT-PCR tests
from across the city to track Covid-19 mutations, developments and trends.
Dr KV Thrilok Chandra, special commissioner health, BBMP, said: “Genomic surveillance has played a central role in ramping up health infrastructure as well as in introducing new measures to curtail the spread of Covid-
