All 29 patients have been kept in isolation at designated health facilities (Representative)
New Delhi:
On Friday, four cases of the highly contagious mutant strain of the coronavirus were detected in the country, the Union Ministry of Health reported. The total of those affected by the strain, which was found for the first time in the UK, reached 29, it added.
Of the four cases, three were found in a Bengaluru laboratory, while one was detected in a laboratory in Hyderabad, the sources said.
So far, the Delhi labs have detected 10 cases, 10 a Bengaluru lab, one in West Bengal, three in Hyderabad and five by the National Institute of Virology in Pune.
All 29 patients have been kept in isolation in designated health facilities.
The new strain, which is said to be more contagious than the other coronavirus strains, has so far been detected in Denmark, the Netherlands, Australia, Italy, Sweden, France, Spain, Switzerland, Germany, Canada, Japan, Lebanon and Singapore. .
The strain, which was first detected in September and confirmed by UK authorities in December, was first found in India earlier this week in travelers returning from the European country.
To control the spread of the new strain, the center temporarily banned flights from the UK in December. It has also started a genome sequencing project involving 10 laboratories from across the country.
Several states have also announced nighttime curfews and other restrictions in light of the new strain.
India added 20,035 coronavirus infections in the past 24 hours, putting its total number at 1.02 million cases. With 256 new deaths, the death count reached 1,48,994.
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