India has detected six cases of the mutant coronavirus that was first discovered in the UK. The Health Ministry said on Tuesday that the six patients had recently returned from the UK. The mutated UK strain was detected in samples at NIMHANS, Bengaluru, at CCMB, Hyderabad and one at NIV, Pune.
The new strain is reportedly 70% more infectious than the one that caused the Covid-19 pandemic and was first reported in the UK.
“All of these people have been kept in single room isolation in health care facilities designated by the respective state governments. His close contacts have also been quarantined. A full contact tracing has been started for fellow travelers, family contacts, and others. Genome sequencing is being carried out on other samples, ”said the Ministry of Health.
“The situation is under careful surveillance and regular advice is provided to states to improve surveillance, containment, testing and shipment of samples to the India SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) laboratories.” added the Ministry of Health.
The ministry further added that around 33,000 passengers disembarked at various Indian airports from the UK from November 25 to December 23. “So far, only 114 have tested positive. These positive samples have been sent to 10 INSACOG laboratories (NIBMG Kolkata, ILS Bhubaneswar, NIV Pune, CCS Pune, CCMB Hyderabad, CDFD Hyderabad, InSTEM Bengaluru, NIMHANS Bengaluru, IGIB Delhi, NCDC Delhi) for genome sequencing ”, said the government.
Last week, India announced the suspension flights to and from the UK until the end of the year. The Civil Aviation Ministry made the decision based on a recommendation from the Ministry of Health, which noted that the new UK strain of the novel coronavirus is “spreading and growing rapidly”.
So far Denmark, the Netherlands, Australia, Italy, Sweden, France, Spain, Switzerland, Germany, Canada, Japan, Lebanon, and Singapore have already reported the new UK variant.
.
