Updated: December 22, 2020 8:02:34 pm
Passengers arriving from the UK at Mumbai airport on Tuesday (Express photo)
The highly infectious new strain of coronavirus found in the UK, leading some 40 countries to sever travel ties with the country, has yet to be detected in India, the government confirmed Tuesday even as the The Ministry of Health issued guidelines for passengers from Great Britain. The day also saw several states calling on the administration to remain vigilant and increase the amount of testing.
The guidelines come a day after the government decided that all UK-origin flights to India will be temporarily suspended until 11:59 p.m. on December 31.
Issuing a statement, the Ministry of Health said this new variant of the virus, called VUI-202012/01, was estimated by the European Center for Disease Control (ECDC) as “more transmissible and affects the younger population”. “This variant is defined by a set of 17 changes or mutations. One of the most significant changes … may result in the virus becoming more infectious and spreading more easily between people, ”the statement said.
These are the main developments of Covid-19 today:
New strain of Covid will have no impact on emerging vaccines: government
To allay fears about the mutated strain of SARS-CoV-2 detected in the UK, the government said Tuesday that it would have no impact on the potential of emerging vaccines. At a press conference, NITI Aayog (health) member Dr. VK Paul said that there was no need to “panic” and that “we have not yet detected a virus of this type in our country.”
“As of now, based on our discussions, our deep knowledge of the available data, and our deep assessment, there is no need to panic, but it is a reason to be more vigilant. We have to counter this new challenge with our comprehensive efforts. We will be safe if we delete the genomic sequence, ”said Paul.
Paul said the mutation could make the virus more infectious and spread more easily between people. “It is also said that in these viruses, the transmissibility has increased by 70 percent, they can also be called super spreaders in some way, but it does not increase the propensity for death, hospitalization and the severity of the disease. What is affected is the tendency to affect more people which in itself is cause for concern. It is an adverse development, ”he said.
Government issues guidelines for UK passengers, RT-PCR testing is mandatory
Mandatory RT-PCR tests on arrival, separate isolation of those who test positive for the novel coronavirus variant, and institutional quarantine for companions of those who test positive are some of the salient features of the issued standard operating procedure. by the Ministry of Health for passengers from the UK.
The SOP refers to travelers who have traveled or transited the UK from 25 November to 23 December. “All passengers coming from the UK on December 21-23 will undergo RT-PCR testing upon arrival and this must be ensured by the respective state governments. Those who are negative in the RT-PCR test at the airport will be advised to self-quarantine at home and will be followed up, ”the ministry said.
The ministry asked state governments to isolate passengers who tested positive at an institutional isolation facility in a separate unit coordinated by the respective state health authorities. “In case of a positive sample, it is recommended that the spike gene-based RT-PCR test also be performed by an appropriate laboratory,” he said.
He also said that all contacts (without exception) of those passengers who tested positive on arrival between December 21 and 23 would also be subjected to institutional quarantine. “The contacts in the suspected case are the passengers sitting in the same row, three rows in front and three rows behind, together with the identified cabin crew,” the ministry said.
Almost 600 passengers landed in Mumbai from the UK on three planes on Tuesday
590 UK passengers land in Mumbai on three flights
Nearly 600 passengers landed in Mumbai from the UK on three planes on Tuesday and no person with Covid-19 symptoms was on board these flights. Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) in Mumbai announced that all passengers arriving from the Middle East and European countries will be subject to mandatory institutional quarantine.
BMC Commissioner IS Chahal had said that all passengers arriving from the UK on the five flights as of Tuesday night would be kept in institutional quarantine at hotels, and that passengers showing symptoms of Covid-19 would be admitted to Seven Hills Hospital, PTI reported.
Health workers conduct coronavirus tests in Mankhud Mumbai
To prevent the spread of the new Covid strain, BMC has issued the following orders. “All passengers arriving from the UK will be subjected to mandatory institutional quarantine at their own cost, at the nearby hotel for 7 days. Symptomatic passengers will be transported to Seven Hills Hospital. The passenger will pay for the RT-PCR test to be carried out between the fifth and seventh day, ”BMC tweeted.
“If the test is negative, the passenger would be discharged with 7 days of mandatory home quarantine. Positive asymptomatic
patients will be quarantined at the hotel or Covid-19 hospital for 14 days. BEST, ”BMC tweeted.
Tamil Nadu tightens Covid-19 rules, UK passenger tests positive
A passenger who arrived in Chennai from London via Delhi tested positive for coronavirus and the genomes of his sample would be analyzed to see if it matched the new strain of the virus detected in the UK. The passenger was among the 15 fliers that were tested for Covid-19.
“We have sent samples to the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune to find out if it was the new variant of SARS-CoV-2 that is believed to be spreading and growing rapidly,” said state Health Minister C Vijayabaskar. More than 1,000 passengers who arrived from the UK in the past 10 days were monitored for symptoms, he said.
The government has decided to test all those who have arrived from the UK in the last 15 days. “We are monitoring all the airports in the state and the borders near Bangalore and Trivandrum for passengers who traveled from the UK via different countries and airports in India,” he said.
A clinic doctor collects a sample for coronavirus testing from a motorcyclist at a Covid-19 screening facility in Malaysia (AP)
BioNTech CEO confident that Pfizer vaccine will work in UK variant
German pharmaceutical company BioNTech said it was confident that its vaccine it would work against the new UK variant. “Scientifically, it is very likely that the immune response of this vaccine can also cope with the new variants of the virus,” CEO Ugur Sahin said at a press conference.
Sahin said the proteins in the UK variant were 99 percent the same as in the predominant strains. “But we will know only if the experiment is done and we will need about two weeks from now to get the data,” he said.
“The probability that our vaccine will work… is relatively high. If the vaccine needs to be adjusted for the new variant, the company could do it in about 6 weeks, ”Sahin said. The Pfizer vaccine, which has been shown to be 95% effective in preventing infections, has been licensed for use in more than 45 countries, including Great Britain, the United States and the EU.
UK Scientists Investigate Spread of New Coronavirus Variant in Children
Scientists from the UK are investigating the impact of the new mutant variant of the coronavirus on children and whether its faster transmission was due to the younger segment of the population. “Children are perhaps equally susceptible to this virus as adults and therefore, given their mixing patterns, it is to be expected that more children will be infected,” the PTI quoted Professor Wendy Barclay, member of the Advisory Group, as saying. on New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats (Nervtag), as saying.
Previous strains of coronavirus had a harder time infecting children than adults, and one explanation is that children have fewer of the gates called the ACE2 receptor that the virus uses to enter human cells.
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