20 more test positive for UK COVID-19 strain; total 58

Twenty more people have tested positive for the new United Kingdom variant of SARS-CoV-2, taking the total number of such cases in the country to 58.

The new cases have been identified at the National Institute of Virology Pune.

"The total number of cases infected with the new strain of the novel coronavirus first reported in the UK now stands at 58," 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 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.

Of the 58, the mutated UK strain was detected in eight samples at National Centre for Disease Control, New Delhi, 11 in the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology, Delhi, in one in National Institute of Biomedical Genomics, Kalyani (near Kolkata), 25 in the National Institute of Virology in Pune, three in Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology in Hyderabad and ten was sequenced in National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences Hospital Bengaluru.

The INSACOG labs at NCBS InSTEM, Bengaluru, CDFD Hyderabad, ILS Bhubaneswar, and NCCS Pune have so far found no mutant virus.

The new UK variant has already been reported by several countries including Denmark, the Netherlands, Australia, Italy, Sweden, France, Spain, Switzerland, Germany, Canada, Japan, Lebanon and Singapore.

The Government of India took cognizance of the reports of virus reported from the UK and put in place a proactive and preventive strategy to detect and contain the mutant variant, it said.

This strategy includes temporary suspension of all flights coming from the UK with effect from the midnight of December 23 till January 7 and mandatory testing of all UK-returned air passengers through RT-PCR test.

The samples of all UK returnees found positive in RT-PCR test will be genome sequenced by a consortium of 10 government labs i.e. INSACOG.

Further, all the international passengers who have arrived in India between December 9 and 22, if symptomatic and tested positive for COVID-19 will be subjected to genome sequencing as part of the Centre's strategy to detect the mutated UK variant in them.

Others will be followed up by the respective state and district surveillance officers and will be tested as per the ICMR guidelines (even if asymptomatic) between 5th and 10th day, according to the Union Health Ministry's guidance document on genomic sequencing.

Further, epidemiological surveillance of the passengers, who have arrived in India since November 23 will be conducted in the community through active follow up.

Besides, standard operating protocol for states and UTs to tackle the mutant variant of SARS-CoV-2 was issued on December 22.