Covid-19: Has the UK’s New Coronavirus Strain Made it to India?

Coronavirus in India: Since the new strain COVID-19 was discovered in the UK, fear has gripped the new variant of the coronavirus that is more transmissible. Recently, another variant of coronavirus was also found in the UK. However, both variants are restricted to the UK only, so far. But, with people coming to India from the UK, the possibility of the new viral strain reaching India cannot be ruled out. According to a tweet from the ANI news agency, the Kozhikode health department has conducted a study where a slight change in the viral strain has been observed. To be completely sure, research is underway to test the new viral strain in all districts of Kerala. However, according to Kerala Health Minister KK Shailaja, the strain found in the Kerala positive cases is not like the one found in the UK.

In Kerala, so far, there are eight people who have returned from the UK and tested positive for the new coronavirus. According to Shailaja, the samples from these eight people were sent to the National Institute of Virology in Pune, where they will be further examined to see if these people have the mutated strain of the virus.

It should be noted that two new strains of SARS-CoV-2 found in the UK have so far had a high rate of transmissibility. Last week, the south and east of England witnessed an increase in COVID-19 cases, with the reason behind the increase found to be the new variant of the viral infection. While one strain is believed to be found in Europe, the other comes from South Africa (later found in the UK). The European Center for Disease Prevention and Control recently reported on a threat assessment and said that when the phylogenetic analysis was performed, the new COVID-19 strain had 29 different nucleotide substitutions compared to the viral strain that was originally transmitted. in Wuhan. At this time, the new strain is believed to have spread across all countries and there is no clarity on the extent of the spread of the new COVID-19 variant.

Meanwhile, Indian officials are trying to identify and locate people who have traveled from the UK. People from the UK have been found in Uttar Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Telangana, Maharashtra and Goa, among other states, and some of them have also tested positive for COVID-19. According to Goa’s Health Minister Vishwajit Rane, 11 people who came from the UK tested positive for the viral infection. Currently, people with a travel history to the UK are being tracked and screened for the coronavirus. Viral strains taken from the blood of infected people are also being studied.

As the risk of COVID-19 transmission has increased significantly with the introduction of the new viral strain, India has also suspended flights to the UK until December 31.