6 UK returnees in Kerala test +ve for mutant UK COVID-19 strain

Thiruvananthapuram: Six UK returnees from Kerala have tested positive for the new strain of the virus, Health Minister K K Shailaja said on Monday.

“Six people who recently returned from the UK have tested positive for the new strain.We have placed them under surveillance. Their samples had been sent to NIV, Pune and results received today,” the minister told reporters tonight.

While two persons each from Alappuzha and Kozhikode have tested positive for the new variant, Kottayam and Kannur districts have reported one case each, she said. The six are under isolation and observation, she added.

Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope said eight people who returned from UK were found with symptoms of the new strain of coronavirus. “Eight passengers from UK returned to Maharashtra were found to have symptoms of the new coronavirus, including 5 from Mumbai, one each from Pune, Thane and Mira Bhayandar. All of them are in segregation and their contact tracing is underway,” Tope tweeted.

In western Uttar Pradesh, five cases of the mutant strain were reported from Meerut with all of the infected persons from a single family, including a two-year-old girl.

Three more people who returned from the UK have tested positive for the mutant strain of coronavirus, taking the total of such cases in Karnataka to 10, Health Minister K Sudhakar said today.

After getting reports from other nations, the Centre had put in place a proactive and preventive strategy to detect and contain the mutant coronavirus.