Lugar Lab using genetic sequence technology to identify source of coronavirus
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The Tbilisi-based Lugar Lab is capable of identifying the origin of certain cases of COVID-19 per its genetic sequence.
Deputy Head of Tbilisi Hospital of Infectious Diseases Paata Imnadze said that the source country of the virus in three cases had been identified.
Lugar Lab can use genetic sequences to identify where an individual was infected. In three cases we did not know the exact source of the virus and we identified this. The individuals had contacts with people of different nationalities,” Imnadze said.
Imnadze stated that several countries have not provided genetic materials and it is impossible to track the virus in all situations.
The technology was unavailable several years ago.
The approach looks for genetic changes in the virus and helps scientists answer questions where and how the virus is spreading.
The Georgian Patriarchate has responded to claims of inappropriate action in the face of the coronavirus outbreak, stating there are individuals and media outlets in the country that accuse the church of spreading the coronavirus, as churches remain open and parishioners continue to take communion.
The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus has reached 73 in Georgia, with 10 people having recovered since the beginning of the outbreak. Two of the 73 are Austrian citizens who have already returned home via a chartered flight. As of now there are 61 people inside the country infected with the virus. The new cases are connected with the Marneuli region of Georgia and the US.
Georgia has reported three more cases of the coronavirus in the evening, increasing the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 70, including nine individuals who have recovered. As of now, the number of infected individuals stands at 59 in Georgia out of 70.
State Minister for Reconciliation and Civic Equality of Georgia Ketevan Tsikhelashvili has urged the residents of the Russia-occupied Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) regions to follow recommendations of the World Health Organization, saying that the Georgian government is ready help them prevent the spread of COVID-19 if the need arises.
Two people have tested positive for the new coronavirus increasing the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 75. As of now, the number of infected individuals stands at 63 in Georgia: two Austrian citizens have returned home via a chartered flight; while ten individuals have recovered.
The US Embassy to Georgia says it is happy to see more Georgians are learning about the important work of the Lugar Lab in Tbilisi, which was constructed with the funds allocated by the US government.
Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs George Kent has thanked the Georgian Foreign Ministry for opposing Russia’s continued propaganda, ‘which was also echoed in China’, against the US-built Lugar Lab in Tbilisi, which is administered entirely by the Georgian government.
Russia has demanded access to all blocks and documentation of the US-built, Tbilisi Lugar Centre, and once again accused the lab of ‘conducting dangerous experiments’ following yesterday's repeat invitation from Tbilisi to receive Russian experts there. Russia says that they want the visit ‘without the presence of international organisations, in a bilateral format.’
Russian experts will be allowed into the US-built, Tbilisi Lugar Centre only with the presence of international delegates, within the convention on prohibition of biological weapons, and not in a bilateral format as Russia demanded earlier today, Georgian Prime Minister’s Special Representative in Relations with Russia Zurab Abashidze told IPN.
Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia visited the US-built Lugar Centre in Tbilisi earlier today, with heads of Georgia’s National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and Health Minister Ekaterine Tikaradze.