On the 5th of January, India reported 20 new cases of the new strain of the Novel Coronavirus or COVID-19.
The new strain of COVID-19 which was discovered in the United Kingdom (U.K.,) till date infected as many as 58 U.K., returnees.
The results of the new strain were based on the genome sequencing of positive samples by the Indian Sars-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (Insacog) labs.
In regard to this, the Central Government announced 10 designated laboratories for the purpose of monitoring any kind of mutations in the virus.
The designated 10 Insacog labs are: the National Institute of Biomedical Genomics (NIBMG,) Kolkata,the Institute of Life Science (ILS) Bhubaneswar, the National Institute of Virology (NIV) Pune, the College of Computer Sciences (CCS) Pune, theCentre for Cellular Molecular Biology (CCMB) Hyderabad, the Centre for DNA Fingerprint Diagnostic (CDFD) Hyderabad, the Institute for Stem Cell Science and Regenerative (InSTEM) Bengaluru, the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS) Bengaluru, the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB) Delhi and the 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 state tests for Coronavirus infection.
Among the sequenced samples, 10 samples tested positive in NIMHANS, Bengaluru, three in CCMB, Hyderabad, five in NIV, Pune, 11 in IGIB, Delhi, eight in NCDC, New Delhi, and one in NCBG, Kolkata.
The NCBS, InSTEM, Bengaluru, the CDFD Hyderabad, the ILS Bhubaneswar, and the NCCS Pune, have so far found no traces of the U.K., variant among the samples that have been sequenced in their labs.
Meanwhile, the Union Health Ministry said, “All these persons have been kept in single room isolation in designated health care facilities by respective state governments. Their close contacts have also been put under quarantine. Comprehensive contact tracing has been initiated for co travellers, family contacts and others. Genome sequencing on other specimens is going on.” The Ministry further said, “The situation is under careful watch and regular advice is being provided to the states for enhanced surveillance, containment, testing and dispatch of samples to Insacog labs.”
The presence of the new U.K., variant has already been reported by Denmark, Netherlands, Australia, Italy, Sweden, France, Spain, Switzerland, Germany, Canada, Japan, Lebanon and Singapore, so far.
