14 more UK returnees test +ve for new Covid strain
New Delhi: Twenty people who returned to India from the United Kingdom have tested positive for the new UK variant genome of SARS-CoV-2 so far, the Union Health ministry said on Wednesday.
The tally includes six people who were found positive for the new virus strain on Tuesday.
The ministry said the mutated UK strain was detected in eight samples at the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), one at the National Institute of Biomedical Genomics (NIBMG), Kalyani (near Kolkata), one at the National Institute of Virology (NIV) Pune, seven at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro-Sciences Hospital (NIMHANS) Bengaluru, two at the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) in Hyderabad and one at the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB), Delhi.
The ministry on Tuesday said six UK returnees were found positive for the mutated UK variant genome and that all these people have been kept in single room isolation at designated health care facilities by respective state governments and 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 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 ministry had said.
The presence of the new UK Variant has already been reported by Denmark, Netherlands, Australia, Italy, Sweden, France, Spain, Switzerland, Germany, Canada, Japan, Lebanon and Singapore.
India's COVID-19 caseload increased to 1,02,44,852 with 20,549 new infections being reported in a day while the number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 98.34 lakh pushing the national recovery rate to 95.99 per cent, according to the ministry data updated on Wednesday.
The death toll increased to 1,48,439 with 286 new fatalities. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 98,34,141 pushing the national recovery rate to 95.99 per cent, while the COVID-19 case fatality rate stands at 1.45 per cent.
Passenger flights between the UK and India would remain suspended till January 7 and they will resume in a "strictly regulated" manner thereafter, Aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Wednesday.
Puri's announcement has come following a recommendation by the Union Health ministry to extend the suspension of India-UK flights till January 7.
Puri said on Twitter: "Decision has been taken to extend the temporary suspension of flights to & from the UK till 7 January 2021."
"Thereafter strictly regulated resumption will take place for which details will be announced shortly," he said.
The Coronavirus-induced suspension of scheduled international passenger flights has been extended till January 31, aviation regulator DGCA said on Wednesday.
"However, international scheduled flights may be allowed on selected routes by the competent authority on a case-to-case basis," the Directorate General of Civil Aviation added.
The DGCA circular also said that the suspension does not affect the operation of international all-cargo operations and flights specifically approved by it.
