NEW DELHI: Twenty people who returned to India from the UK have tested positive for the new UK variant SARS-CoV-2 genome so far, the Union Health Ministry said on Wednesday.
The count includes six people who tested positive for the new strain of the virus on Tuesday.
The ministry said the UK mutated strain was detected in eight samples at the National Center for Disease Control (NCDC), one at the National Institute for Biomedical Genomics (NIBMG), Kalyani (near Calcutta), one at the National Institute of Virology (NIV). ) Pune, seven at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuroscience Hospital (NIMHANS) Â Bengaluru, two at the Center for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) in Hyderabad and one at the Institute for Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB), Delhi .
The ministry said on Tuesday that six returnees from the UK tested positive for the UK’s mutated variant genome and that all of these people have been kept in single room isolation in healthcare facilities designated by the respective state governments and their close contacts as well. have been quarantined.
“Comprehensive contact tracing has been initiated for fellow travelers, family contacts and others. Genome sequencing is underway on other samples.
“The situation is under careful surveillance and regular advice is being provided to states to improve surveillance, containment, testing, and sending samples to INSACOG laboratories,” the ministry said.
Denmark, the Netherlands, Australia, Italy, Sweden, France, Spain, Switzerland, Germany, Canada, Japan, Lebanon and Singapore have already reported the presence of the new UK variant.
The ministry said that from November 25 to midnight December 23, about 33,000 passengers disembarked at various Indian airports in the UK. All these passengers are being tracked and subjected to RT-PCR tests by states and territories of the Union.
The Government of India took notice of the virus reports reported from the UK and put in place a proactive and preventive strategy to detect and contain the mutant variant, he said.
This strategy includes the temporary suspension of all flights from the UK from midnight December 23 to December 31 and mandatory testing of all air passengers returning to the UK using the RT-PCR test. A consortium of 10 government laboratories, ie INSACOG, will sequence the genome of samples from all returnees from the UK who test positive for RT-PCR.
In addition, a meeting of the National Task Force (NTF) on COVID-19 was held on December 26 to consider and recommend the testing, treatment, surveillance and containment strategy.
Additionally, on December 22, a standard operating protocol was issued for states and UTs to address the mutant variant of SARS-CoV-2.
The NTF reviewed the entire issue in detail on December 26 and the NTF concluded that it is not necessary to change the existing National Treatment Protocol or existing test protocols in light of the mutant variant.
The NTF also recommended that, in addition to the existing surveillance strategy, it is essential to carry out improved genomic surveillance, the ministry had said.
The count includes six people who tested positive for the new strain of the virus on Tuesday.
The ministry said the UK mutated strain was detected in eight samples at the National Center for Disease Control (NCDC), one at the National Institute for Biomedical Genomics (NIBMG), Kalyani (near Calcutta), one at the National Institute of Virology (NIV). ) Pune, seven at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuroscience Hospital (NIMHANS) Â Bengaluru, two at the Center for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) in Hyderabad and one at the Institute for Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB), Delhi .
The ministry said on Tuesday that six returnees from the UK tested positive for the UK’s mutated variant genome and that all of these people have been kept in single room isolation in healthcare facilities designated by the respective state governments and their close contacts as well. have been quarantined.
“Comprehensive contact tracing has been initiated for fellow travelers, family contacts and others. Genome sequencing is underway on other samples.
“The situation is under careful surveillance and regular advice is being provided to states to improve surveillance, containment, testing, and sending samples to INSACOG laboratories,” the ministry said.
Denmark, the Netherlands, Australia, Italy, Sweden, France, Spain, Switzerland, Germany, Canada, Japan, Lebanon and Singapore have already reported the presence of the new UK variant.
The ministry said that from November 25 to midnight December 23, about 33,000 passengers disembarked at various Indian airports in the UK. All these passengers are being tracked and subjected to RT-PCR tests by states and territories of the Union.
The Government of India took notice of the virus reports reported from the UK and put in place a proactive and preventive strategy to detect and contain the mutant variant, he said.
This strategy includes the temporary suspension of all flights from the UK from midnight December 23 to December 31 and mandatory testing of all air passengers returning to the UK using the RT-PCR test. A consortium of 10 government laboratories, ie INSACOG, will sequence the genome of samples from all returnees from the UK who test positive for RT-PCR.
In addition, a meeting of the National Task Force (NTF) on COVID-19 was held on December 26 to consider and recommend the testing, treatment, surveillance and containment strategy.
Additionally, on December 22, a standard operating protocol was issued for states and UTs to address the mutant variant of SARS-CoV-2.
The NTF reviewed the entire issue in detail on December 26 and the NTF concluded that it is not necessary to change the existing National Treatment Protocol or existing test protocols in light of the mutant variant.
The NTF also recommended that, in addition to the existing surveillance strategy, it is essential to carry out improved genomic surveillance, the ministry had said.
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