The returnee from the UK is being treated in a separate wing of the Kings Institute in Guindy.
One person tested positive for the British variant of the coronavirus in Chennai and the patient is currently receiving treatment at the King’s Institute in Guindy. Speaking to the media on Tuesday, Tamil Nadu Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan confirmed the positive case and urged people not to panic. The Health Secretary also said that the results of the remaining 29 people from the National Institute of Virology, Pune, where genome sequencing is being carried out, are expected.
Addressing journalists, Radhakrishnan said: “A person has tested positive for the new variant of the coronavirus and is receiving treatment in a separate room at the King Institute in Guindy. We already tested the remaining passengers who traveled with him on the plane and their samples came back negative. ”
He added: “The condition of the person who tested positive for the UK variant is stable and his health condition is improving.” While the UK variant is believed to be more infectious, the treatment for COVID-19, the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus, remains the same.
On Tuesday, the Union government declared that six people have been infected with the British variant of the virus. Of the six members, the government said that three samples tested at NIMHANS in Bengaluru, two samples at the Center for Molecular Biology in Hyderabad and one from the National Institute of Virology in Pune all tested positive for the UK variant. Patients who tested positive are treated in an isolation room designated by the respective state governments.
From November 25 to December 23, almost 33,000 passengers have landed in India from UK airports. After the UK announced that a new variant was being rolled out in the country, the Indian government suspended the foreign nation’s flight operations from December 23 to December 31. All passengers who arrived in Chenani during the previous month were instructed to carry out RT-PCR tests. .
The Ministry of Health has also created the India SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) for surveillance and to understand the spread of COVID-19 and its evolution in the country.
.
