HYDERABAD: Telangana authorities are preparing to address the threat of the UK mutant variant of Covid-19 after a 49-year-old man from Warangal tested positive after testing at the Center for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) , Hyderabad.
The man, who had returned from the UK in the second week of December, has been kept in an isolation room away from other Covid-19 patients.
Hours after the Center announced the initial results of genome sequencing from the laboratories of the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG), authorities in Telangana drew up an action plan to keep suspicious patients. of being infected with the UK strain in a mandatory 14-day Quarantine.
While Covid-19 patients are currently kept in a seven-day quarantine and considered recovered if there are no symptoms thereafter, for patients suspected of being infected with the UK strain, a test will be repeated after 14 days of quarantine, authorities said.
“Those suspected of having the new variant of the virus are not allowed home isolation. They must remain in the hospital under strict medical supervision and separated from regular Covid-19 patients, ”said a senior official from the state health department.
All foreign returnees who tested positive were asked to identify their primary, secondary and tertiary contacts. These include family, friends, and anyone else they may have known. “Other departments such as police, revenue and municipal corporations will be tied up for this purpose,” an official said.
“In addition, it has been decided that if there is an increase in the number of cases of the new variant, containment zones will be established,” said another official.
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