New Delhi: Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya chaired a meeting on Tuesday to discuss the new Coronavirus strain known as the 'XE variant,' and urged officials to increase ongoing monitoring and surveillance in the country.

In one of his recent tweets, the Minister stated that he had met with the country's top experts to discuss the new 'XE Variant' of Covid-19, during which he reviewed the Covid cases and gave necessary instructions for strengthening the ongoing monitoring and surveillance system to study the new variants and related cases.

Mandaviya has asked personnel in charge of medical infrastructure and resources to regularly assess the availability of essential drugs and medicines required for Covid treatment, according to a statement from the Ministry.

"He also highlighted that the ongoing vaccination campaign must be carried out at full speed and that all eligible individuals should be vaccinated," the statement continued.

"While examining COVID-19 cases across the country, he (Mandaviya) asked staff to increase ongoing monitoring and surveillance of new variants and cases," the ministry said in a statement.

Dr. V.K. Paul, member, Health, NITI Aayog; Rajesh Bhushan, Union Health Secretary; Dr. Randeep Guleria, Director at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS); Dr. Balram Bhargava, Director General (DG) of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR); Dr. NK Arora, Chairman of COVID-19 Working Group of National Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (NTAGI), and other senior officials attended the review meeting.

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