HYDERABAD: Seven people who returned from the UK to Telangana in the past month tested positive for the Covid-19 virus. Your samples have now been submitted to the Center for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) for genome sequencing and finding out if they are affected by the existing strain or if it is a recently mutated and highly infectious B.1.1.7 variant found in the UK. .
Sources told TOI that, in order not to take any risks, state health officials have been put on high alert and are aggressively tracking the contacts of those who tested positive.
“The seven patients are from Hyderabad, Medchal, Warangal Urban, Siddipet and Jagityal districts. They have been kept in isolation in various hospitals, separate from other Covid-19 patients, ”said a health department official, adding that special wards should be set up for returnees from the UK who have tested positive.
Of the approximately 1,200 people who have returned to Telangana from the UK since December 9, 846 have been screened. “The seven patients who tested positive are being monitored separately and people who have been in contact with them are being traced. We are also monitoring returnees who tested negative, ”Health Minister Eatala Rajender said in an official statement.
In the wake of global concerns about the new variant of the existing new coronavirus, the minister appealed to people to be vigilant. He suggested that people observe the upcoming Christmas, New Year and Sankranti celebrations at home, urging everyone to follow Covid precautions, including wearing masks, hand hygiene and physical distancing.
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