New strain of COVID-19: 3 more Delhi residents test positive for UK variant of coronavirus

With this, seven residents of the national capital have so far been found infected with the new coronavirus variant that has emerged in the UK.

Corona New Strain: चेन्नई में मिले कोरोना वेरिएंट के 3 नये मरीज, देश में कुल मामले हुए 71, WHO ने किया दुनिया को खबरदार

Three more Delhi residents have tested positive for the new Covid-19 strain as a result of door-to-door medical check-up of people who have recently arrived from the United Kingdom and those who came in their contact in the city, an official said on Monday. The new Covid-19 variant is the result of multiple mutations in the spike protein of the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, as well as mutations in other genomic regions of the RNA virus. Preliminary analysis suggests that it is more transmissible than previously circulating variants.

With this, seven residents of the national capital have so far been found infected with the new coronavirus variant that has emerged in the UK.

Number Of Individuals Infected With New Covid-19 Strain In India

At present, 51 people, including those who recently returned from the UK and their contacts, have so far tested positive for COVID-19 and all have been kept in a separate isolation facility at Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Narayan Hospital (LNJP) Hospital.

Out of these 51, samples of 35 were sent to laboratories for genome sequencing, of which reports of 21 have arrived, officials said.

Earlier, seven UK returnees had been found infected with the new strain, four having addresses in Delhi and the rest in other places.

According to a report shared by the Centre on Monday, a total of 38 people have been found infected with the new strain of the virus till date in the country.

Among them, 11 people have tested positive with the new strain at CSIR's Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB), and eight samples tested at NCDC, both in Delhi.

Separate Isolation Rooms For The Infected Individuals

Meanwhile, a separate 32-room isolation unit has been set up at Rajiv Gandhi Super Speciality Hospital to quarantine UK returnees who have tested positive for COVID-19, sources said.

Interacting with reporters on December 29, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain had said, a total of 38 people had been found positive since coming to Delhi from the UK recently, and kept in a separate institutional isolation unit on the LNJP Hospital premises.

Delhi recorded 384 fresh COVID-19 cases, the lowest in over seven months, and 12 new fatalities on Monday, even as the positivity rate stood at 0.76 per cent, authorities said.

The infection tally in the city rose to over 6.27 lakh and the death toll mounted to 10,597, they said.

World Fights New Covid-19 Strain

The presence of the new UK virus has already been reported by Denmark, the Netherlands, Australia, Italy, Sweden, France, Spain, Switzerland, Germany, Canada, Japan, Lebanon, and Singapore so far.

As per the Indian government data, around 33,000 passengers disembarked at various airports from the UK between 25 November to 23 December midnight.

All these UK returnees are being tracked and subjected by states and Union Territories to RT-PCR tests.

(With inputs from Agencies)