Thread by @pavitrarc

Articles like these coming out of India scare me.

First, there are only *two* full SARS-CoV-2 genomes from India, both from Kerala. Unless there's additional data that hasn't been published, I'm not sure how one can say anything about the strains circulating locally. 1/

https://twitter.com/NewIndianXpress/status/1244303206336749569

No sources have been cited for any of the claims being made. 2/

Dr. Reddy is a gastroenterologist commenting on virus genomics, epidemiology, and public health, which he is free to do, but he is making recommendations about country-wide interventions. This is scary. 3/

I implore Indian news media to be responsible about sharing information like this. We have a lot of great resources and experts to learn from. Please reach out to #epitwitter @nextstrain @GISAID and so many more.

#SARSCoV2 #COVID19 #Covid19India

Also, for labs looking to sequence more in India, please reach out! We might be able to help--with protocols, info, and more. @srikosuri has also organized an awesome slack channel for information sharing.

This is not a time for egos and information/data hoarding. I think we all get that, based on how much information has already been put out there by various groups worldwide. So please reach out.

Thank you to @timesofindia for this more measured assessment. We have a lot to learn about this virus. Let's not get complacent. #COVID19
#FlattenTheCurve #SARSCoV2 #Covid19India

timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad…