Twenty more people have tested positive for the new UK strain of coronavirus in India, taking the total number of such cases in the country to 58.
The new cases have been identified at the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune, the Health Ministry said.
The total number of cases infected with the new strain of the novel Coronavirus first reported in the UK now stands at 58 with 20 new cases that have been identified at NIV Pune, the Ministry said.
All of them 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, the statement said.
The situation is under careful watch and regular advice is being provided to the States for enhanced surveillance, containment, testing & dispatch of samples to INSACOG labs, it said.
India has suspended flights to and from the United Kingdom till January 7.
The Union Health Ministry has said that about 33,000 passengers disembarked at various Indian airports from the UK from November 25 to December 23 midnight. All these passengers are being tracked and subjected by States/UTs to RT-PCR tests and samples of those found positive be sent for genome sequencing.
