Till the 31st of December, another five United Kingdom (U.K.,) returnees tested positive for the new strain of the Novel Coronavirus or COVID-19.
With this, a total of 25 U.K., returnees were detected with the new strain of COVID-19 by genome sequencing.
The news of the new cases was confirmed by the Union Health Ministry today evening.
Of the total five fresh cases, four have been traced by National Institute of Virology in Pune and one in CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology in Delhi.
The Health Ministry said, “A total of 25 cases of mutant United Kingdom virus detected in India after genome sequencing. Four new cases found by NIV, Pune and one new case sequenced in IGIB, Delhi. All 25 persons are in physical isolation at health facilities.”
In addition, Satyendar Jain, the Delhi Health Minister, said, “four patients have been found to be positive for the new strain of (the) Coronavirus in Delhi. Flights have been banned and more passengers are not arriving. We are tracing and monitoring people who have already arrived.”
The United Kingdom (U.K.,) returnees are undergoing mandatory COVID-19 tests.
The samples are being sequenced in 10 designated labs across India.
The designated 10 Insacog labs are: National Institute of Biomedical Genomics (NIBMG,) Kolkata, Institute of Life Science (ILS) Bhubaneswar, National Institute of Virology (NIV) Pune, College of Computer Sciences (CCS) Pune, Centre for Cellular Molecular Biology (CCMB) Hyderabad, Centre for DNA Fingerprint Diagnostic (CDFD) Hyderabad, Institute for Stem Cell Science and Regenerative (InSTEM) Bengaluru, National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS) Bengaluru, Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB) Delhi, National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) Delhi.
In addition, to curb the spread of the new Coronavirus variant in India, the Union Government suspended flights to and from U.K., from the 23rd of December till the 31st of December. However, passengers who travelled from U.K., to India before the 23rd of December, are being observed closely and are subjected by states to RT PCR tests for Coronavirus infection.
Besides India, the new variant from the U.K., has been reported in Denmark, Netherlands, Australia, Italy, Sweden, France, Spain, Switzerland, Germany, Canada, Japan, Lebanon and Singapore.
