[ad_1]
MUMBAI: India plans to track everyone arriving from Britain over the past month, officials said on Tuesday (December 22), hoping to stop a more infectious strain of the coronavirus detected there from spreading in a country struggling against the second highest COVID-19 count in the world. .
Eight people who arrived from Britain tested positive for COVID-19 this week and more results are expected, officials from three Indian cities said. So far, none of the infections appeared to be the new strain, said a senior government adviser, while a testing coordinator said the analysis was still ongoing.
COVID-19 infections recorded in India surpassed 10 million over the weekend, second only to the United States. More than 146,000 people in India are recorded to have died from the disease.
The discovery this month of a new form of the virus more easily transmissible in Britain is a particular concern, as several hundred people typically arrive at each of India’s major airports from Britain every day.
India will suspend flights from Britain from Wednesday until the end of the month and has been testing passengers.
READ: Britain Faces Isolation As World Tightens Borders To Avoid New Strain Of COVID-19
“As far as we know, we have yet to detect such a virus in our country, so intense efforts are being made,” VK Paul, one of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s top COVID-19 advisers, said at a conference. press.
Authorities will track passengers who arrived from Britain after Nov. 25 and test anyone showing symptoms of COVID-19, according to a government advisory.
Paul said the new strain would have no impact on vaccine development.
“As we understand it today, it has no impact on the potential of emerging vaccines that are being developed in our country,” he said, adding that they were awaiting additional data from Pfizer for the emergency use application of their vaccine.
Of the nearly 480 passengers and crew who have arrived in New Delhi since Monday night, five have tested positive for the coronavirus and were sent into isolation, said government official Awanish Kumar, who is helping coordinate the tests.
The National Center for Disease Control would confirm if someone had the latest strain, he said.
READ: What we know about the new strain of coronavirus found in Great Britain
Two passengers in the eastern city of Kolkata and one in Chennai in the south who traveled from Britain also tested positive, local officials said.
The government has said it plans to start vaccinating the population next month and Videh Kumar Jaipuriar, chief executive of the New Delhi airport, India’s largest, said on Tuesday that it was preparing to distribute up to 5.4 million vials. per day.
CHECK THIS: Our comprehensive coverage of the coronavirus outbreak and its developments
Download our app or subscribe to our Telegram channel for the latest updates on the coronavirus outbreak: https://cna.asia/telegram
