Chennai: The whole lab sequencing will be inaugurated at the State Public Health Laboratory in Chennai in a week, Tamil Health Secretary Nadu J Radhakrishnan said on Saturday.
Equipment has arrived and scientists will test it for a week before the inauguration, he said.
The lab will help the state track the general variant of SARS-COV-2 and mutations, if any.
When viruses multiply, small changes or mutations accumulate in genetic code.
Despite prevention and treatment of Covid-19 remains the same variant, changes in genetic structures can sometimes accelerate deployment.
Information available with the Ministry of Public Health shows the most common tension seen in the state, as in most countries, is the Delta and Delta Plus variants (B.1.617.2, AY.1 and AY.2).
Until now, Tamil Nadu has sent more than 3,417 samples to Instem based on Bengaluru according to the recommendation from the center.
Instem is part of the insacog (10 lab consortium that tracks the existence of variants in covid samples).
The results of more than 2,693 samples returned by the lab showed that 80% of them were deltas.
The remaining samples containing four other variants including Alpha, Beta, ETA and Kappa variants.
The remaining sample results are still awaited.
Between July 10 and August 5, the country sent 471 samples from various clusters throughout the state.
The laboratory sent results for 468 sampled samples.
“Almost all of them are Delta variants,” said Radhakrishnan.
So far, the country has found 12 Delta Plus variants – but they are grouped as deltas according to recommendations, he said.
Besides Covid-19, the entire genome sequencing genome will help track the variants of diseases transmitted through vectors and superbugs that are resistant to antibiotics, said Lab officials.