Amid new variant concerns, BMC revises Covid-19 guidelines

In view of the new Coronavirus variant that has worried health experts and scientists world over the BMC on Friday revised the COVID19 guidelines It has made the RTPCR test at the airport and home isolation mandatory for travellers from countries that have reported B11529 cases and eight nations witnessing a surge in infections Meanwhile health experts have urged the citizens to be cautious and follow the COVID safety rules while demanding the Centre to approve a booster shotThe new variant has been found in Botswana and Hong Kong in travellers from South Africa People arriving at the airport from these three nations will have to be in home quarantine for 14 daysTravellers from South Africa Botswana and Hong Kong will have to undergo COVID19 test at the airport even though they are fully vaccinated or have an RTPCR negative report They will also have to isolate themselves at home for 14 daysA traveller is tested for COVID19 at Mumbai international airport File picAnurag AhireInternational travellers from eight countries reporting a surge in cases are required to undergo RTPCR test irrespective of their vaccination status at the airport Over the past months countries such as Austria The Netherlands UK Germany Italy Brazil have seen a spike in infectionsThe move comes a day after the Union health ministry issued an advisory to all states directing them to monitor international travellers Meanwhile amid fears that the new variant could evade the current COVID19 vaccines health experts have urged the Centre to administer booster doses to the fully vaccinated citizensAdditional Municipal Commissioner Suresh Kakani told midday From today Friday we started screening and testing all passengers coming from South Africa Hong Kong and Botswana They will be home quarantined for 14 days If they are found COVID19 positive their samples will be sent for genome sequencing to find out if they are infected with the new variant We will take all the precautions There will be no compulsory institutional quarantine for these passengersThe Centre has also instructed that the contacts of travellers from these three countries must also be closely tracked and testedldquoWe have requested the COVID19 task force to provide us with the details of the new variant The data would help us to be better prepared in case a vaccine is not effective on some new variantrdquo said Kakani He appealed to the public to follow the COVIDappropriate behaviour like wearing masks and maintaining physical distancingAdvisory for schoolsThere are very few COVID19 cases in the city and the state government has announced reopening of schools for Std IStd VII from December 1 But the new variant is a new cause for concern for the BMCKakani said ldquoWe have provided all civicrun schools with hand sanitisers and masks for students and teachers Private schools will have to ensure that all COVID19 safety protocols are followed on campus Also people who have not taken the vaccine yet should get vaccinated at the earliest while those whose second shot is pending must get the second one soonrdquoDr Rajesh Dhere dean of COVID jumbo centre at BKC said ldquoWe have heard about the new variant and are looking forward to guidance from the higher authorities including ICMRhelliprdquoGenome surveillance criticalDr Jasdeep Singh research scientist at IIT Delhi who had done extensive study on earlier Coronavirus said ldquoExtensive genome surveillance will be the key factor for India to check the prevalence of the new variant Early communitybased sequencing will be necessary to check any probable spread of this variant among the population The government should also take proactive measures like restricting the number of international travellers especially from the affected countriesrdquoldquoWe are still unaware about the available vaccines efficacy on the new variant and it is therefore a matter of concern especially among the younger population who are still not fully vaccinated We have seen with Delta variants that the younger population and paediatric age group were the vulnerable category Speedy full vaccination of the remaining population should be the priority of the government at both central and state levelsrdquo he saidldquoUnlike the previous variants B11529 carries more number of mutations and therefore they might confer survival advantage to the virus which also means that we may witness multiple waves if the new variant penetrates into the community We should continue following the COVIDappropriate behaviourrdquo said Dr JasdeepDemand grows for boosterDr Santosh Bansode HoD of Emergency Medicine at Wockhardt Hospitals said ldquoB11529 is the most infectious and transmissible variant It has changed spike proteins Our vaccines are designed to fight with specific spike protein viruses So theres a high chance that our current vaccines will not be much effective against B11529 If vaccines fail to protect us from this variant then we will again face a huge problem We must take adequate precautions to stop entry of this variant in our countryHe suggested that vaccines effectiveness on the new variant in the countries must be monitored and also the serious symptoms caused by itFully vaccinated people should also take adequate precautions We should not behave causally and carelessly after getting fully vaccinated We must also study how long the antibodies last in our blood If the antibody level is reduced after a few months then we must think about a booster dose of vaccine This research should be done at a faster rate so that we can be prepared ahead of time Dr Bansode said14 daysThe home quarantine period for travellers from 11 nations32No of mutations in B11529rsquos spike proteinWith inputs from Prajakta KasalelsquoWe must be prepared for worstrsquoSpeaking with midday Dr Jacob John expert virologist from Tamil Nadu answered some of the queries surrounding the new variantWhat is your view on B11529It is a very important development to watch and too early to say anything definitively We must be cautious not anxious India must test every arrival from Malawi Botswana South Africa Israel and Hong Kong and after 4872 hours of strict hotel quarantine retest and if negative let free travel The Centre must keep hourly watch for any additional country reporting the new variant We ignored Delta for weeks and learned our lesson didnrsquot we INSACOG must sequence viruses from airport citiesWhat does it mean for Indiarsquos vax programmeIn case people are reluctant on account of nasty reaction to the first dose the government must allow them to switch to the other vaccine That is wisdom Since vaccineinduced immunity after two doses may not suffice against this new variant the wisest step now is to offer booster doses six or more months after the second one That is in the national interest The ICMR must obtain the variant virus and check out its immunity parameters and transmission potential mdash and keep the public informed We must expect the best but be prepared for the worstShould India be worried about new variantWhat is B11529The new variant of SARSCoV2 B11529 has left scientists worried because of a high number of mutations which could affect how easily it spreads to people It has 50 mutations overall including 32 spike protein which penetrates the bodyrsquos cells It is nearly double of whatrsquos found in Delta that killed lakhs in India during the second waveDetected in AfricaThe daily cases in South Africa jumped from over 200 in recent weeks to over 1200 on Wednesday and to 2465 a day later Scientists studied patientsrsquo samples and found B11529 South African experts said there are no indications to date that it causes more severe or unusual disease and noted that as with other variants some infected people donrsquot have any symptomsScientists worriedWith scientists world over constantly warning of waning vaccine effectiveness due to mutations in the SARSCOV2 which causes COVID B11529 seems to pose a greater risk because of the most number of mutations among all variantsCan vaccines deactivate itSharon Peacock who has led genetic sequencing of Coronavirus in Britain at the University of Cambridge said it would take several weeks to determine if current vaccines are still effective against B11529Who can get itProfessor Francois Balloux the director of the UCL Genetics Institute London said the large number of mutations in the variant apparently accumulated in a ldquosingle burstrdquo suggesting it may have evolved during a chronic infection in a person with a weakened immune system possibly an untreated HIVAIDS patientlsquoWe donrsquot know very much about this yet What we do know is that this variant has a large number of mutations And the concern is that when you have so many mutations it can have an impact on how the virus behavesrsquo Dr Maria Van Kerkhove technical lead on COVID19 WHO