Six UK returnees found infected with new mutated coronavirus strain in India

At least six travellers, who returned from abroad, have been infected with the new mutated coronavirus that was discovered in the UK. On the instructions of the Union Health Ministry, all these passengers have been admitted to different hospitals for treatment.

According to the Union Health Ministry, from November 25 to December 23, about 33 thousand passengers from different cities in Britain reached India. All these passengers were tracked and their RT-PCR test was conducted. 114 of them were confirmed to be coronavirus positive. All these samples were sent to 10 indigenous labs of INSACOG for advance testing. These labs are present in Kolkata, Bhubaneshwar, Pune, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Delhi.

According to the ministry, in this advance testing, it was found that out of these 114 infected, six people have the mutated corona strain from the UK. Of these, 3 were reported from Delhi's NIMHANS, 2 from Bangalore's CCMB and one from Pune's NIV.

The ministry said that the six passengers in which the 'British' COVID-19 strain has been found, have been kept in single room isolation in different states. People coming in close contact with those passengers are being quarantined. Along with this, fellow travellers, family members and other acquaintances who have travelled with them are also being looked out for. The new Genome of COVID-19 found in these passengers is under continuous investigation.

The government has said that it has started work on several levels to stop the mutated coronavirus strain. Under this, the movement of flights from the UK has been banned from December 23 till December 31. RT-PCR tests have been made mandatory for all travellers returning from the UK. If they are found infected, their samples are being sent to 10 Advanced Labs of INSACOG.

The National Task Force (NTF) held a meeting on December 26 to discuss prevention of the new coronavirus strain from spreading into the country. Along with this, the emphasis was laid on creating testing, treatment, surveillance and containment zones to identify such passengers. All states and union territories have been directed to strictly follow the COVID-19 protocol. It was also decided in the NTF meeting that at present there is no need to change the National Treatment Protocol in the country.

It may be noted that so far, the new coronavirus strain has been confirmed in Denmark, Netherlands, Australia, Italy, Sweden, France, Spain, Switzerland, Germany, Canada, Japan, Lebanon and Singapore. Since its discovery, many of these countries have banned the movement of flights from the UK.