With 20 more people tested positive for the latest UK strain of Sars-CoV-2, the coronavirus-causing virus (Covid-19), the total number of UK returnees tested positive for the mutated virus in the country has reached 58.
The findings are based on the genome sequence of positive samples published by the Indian Sars-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (Insacog) laboratories explicitly developed by the Center for the purpose of monitoring any kind of mutation in the virus.
The total number of cases infected with the new strain of the novel Coronavirus first reported in the UK now stands at 58: Union Health Ministry pic.twitter.com/o9hadPPBrl
— ANI (@ANI) January 5, 2021
So far, the samples have been sequenced in six of the 10 designated laboratories across the world.
Among the sequential tests, 10 samples tested positive for NIMHANS, Bengaluru, 3 samples tested positive for CCMB, Hyderabad, 5 samples tested positive for NIV, Pune, 11 samples tested positive for IGIB, Delhi, 8 samples tested positive for NCDC, New Delhi, and 1 sample tested positive for NCBG, Kolkata.
NCBS, InSTEM, Bengaluru, CDFD Hyderabad, ILS Bhubaneswar, and NCCS Pune have so far found no traces of the UK variant among the samples that have been sequenced in their laboratories.
From November 25 to December 23, 2020, approximately 33,000 passengers disembarked from the United Kingdom at various Indian airports.
All these passengers are being monitored and subjected to reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests to detect Covid-19.
“All these individuals have been kept in single-room isolation by the respective state governments in the designated health care facilities. Their close contacts have also been put under quarantine. Comprehensive contact tracing for co-travelers, family contacts, and others has been initiated. Genome sequencing on other specimens is taking place,” said the Ministry of Health of the Union in a statement.
“The situation is being monitored carefully and regular advice is being provided to the States for enhanced surveillance, containment, testing, and shipment of samples to the Insacog laboratories,” the statement reads on.
The Government of India suspended air travel from the United Kingdom on 23 December, following the discovery of a new variant of Sars-CoV-2 in London and other parts of the world.
The latest strain – which has 23 mutations, including one on the receptor-binding protein to the spike used by the virus to enter human cells – is thought to be 70% more communicable, raising questions about super-spreading events.
However, physicians monitoring these patients did not find a significant illness due to the new variant.
The presence of the latest UK version has already been confirmed by Denmark, the Netherlands, Australia, Italy, Sweden, France, Spain, Switzerland, Germany, Canada, Japan, Lebanon, and Singapore.