Ending the pandemic quickly, will rely upon being able to track and trace COVID-19 variants and recognize their different genetic makeup, together with getting a full understanding of the genomic differences between those strains that infect vaccinated individuals, says GlobalData. The leading data and analytics company notes that point-of-care genomic sequencing projects such as the recent FIND-IGIB partnership will be key to exiting the vicious COVID-19 variant cycle.

Alexandra Murdoch, Medical Device Analyst at GlobalData: “FIND and IGIB’s MicroLabs project will take genomic sequencing — something that is typically limited to labs — and offer it straight to the patient. The availability of technology that can sequence, analyze, and interpret data in a short turnaround time will be pivotal moving forward, as the ability to trace and better understand variants is necessary to seeing a quick end to the pandemic.”

The main goal of MicroLabs is to help India with genomic sequencing capacity, ultimately leading to better surveillance and management of COVID-19.

Murdoch continues: “The goal of MicroLabs in India currently is to monitor COVID-19 and it’s variants of concern (VOC). The newest VOC, Omicron, is a cause for concern globally. In India, MicroLabs can help India better prepare for genomic surveillance and in turn, monitor the COVID-19 and Omicron points of entry. This technology will be useful in India, but other densely populated countries experiencing outbreaks would also benefit. In addition, hard to reach and rural communities would also benefit from MicroLabs, as it would help track the evolution of COVID-19.”

Point-of-care genomic sequencing can both help health authorities to manage the current COVID-19 pandemic and better prepare us for the future as it combines scale, speed, and sensitivity, leading to better analysis and ultimately control of the virus spread. As a result, we can monitor the evolution of COVID-19, and its mutations. The faster we can understand COVID-19 mutations, the faster public health can take action and contain the spread.

Murdoch adds: “While we need the ability to track COVID-19 to better understand the disease’s short- and long-term effects, we also need to work out what the future of living with COVID-19 looks like, as well as prepare for any potential pandemics that could arise down the road.”