Kerala’s Health Minister K.K. Shailaja on Saturday said that research studies conducted in the state have shown that the coronavirus has undergone mutation. She said the cases of a mutant strain of the coronavirus have been identified in Kerala, however, it is not yet confirmed if the variant is the same as the variant found in the UK.
“Research conducted by the Health Department in Kozhikode shows a slight change in the strain of the virus. To be sure, we are conducting this research in all districts of Kerala. This strain is not like the one found in the UK,” Shailaja said in Kannur.
In the past week, there are eight people have returned from the UK to Kerala and have tested positive for the novel Coronavirus. According to Shailaja, samples from these eight people have been sent to the National Institute of Virology in Pune where they will be further examined to check if these people have the mutated strain of the virus.
Kerala is also in festival season and shops and malls are filled with people and with the opening of tourist centers and bars, there is an increase in the number of people coming out of their homes and traveling. The health department is worried whether this will again lead to a hike in the number of Covid cases.
The first state to report a Covid-19 case in the country in January is Kerala and it saw a steep spike after the Onam celebrations in August. Kerala was expecting a surge in COVID-19 cases after the local polls as there were campaigning and victory celebrations that breached regulations.
But in some relief, this surge has not been witnessed, the Health Minister confirmed. The test positivity rates in the state continues to be high and was 11.04 on Friday. Till now, 2931 people have died of COVID-19 in Kerala. More than 64,000 people are currently in treatment. 6,64,951 people have recovered from the infection so far.
The UK variant which had first emerged in the south of England had been found to be 70% more transmissible than the original virus and had resulted in a spike of cases there, with millions of UK citizens going into lockdown in the wake of Christmas.