New Delhi, Dec 20 (IANS): Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya will review the Covid-19 situation in the country on Wednesday.

Seeing the sudden rise in the new Covid infection in many countries across the world, he is expected to review the country's situation with senior officials at 11 a.m. on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the Centre has also asked the states to ramp up the the whole genome sequencing of positive cases to track the new variants.

In a letter to all states and UTs, the Health Ministry has said: "In view of the sudden spurt of cases being witnessed in Japan, United States of America, Republic of Korea, Brazil and China, it is essential to gear up the whole genome sequencing of positive case samples to track the variants through Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) network."

Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan, in the letter, has said that such an exercise will enable timely detection of newer variants, if any, circulating in the country and will facilitate undertaking of requisite public health measures for the same.

"In this context, all states are requested to ensure that as far as possible samples of all positive cases, on a daily basis, are sent to the designated INSACOG Genome Sequencing Laboratories (IGSLs) that are mapped to the States and UTs," he said.