Visakhapatnam: Measures in place to trace new virus strain says Collector V Vinay Chand

Visakhapatnam: District Collector V Vinay Chand said coronavirus tests were conducted for the passengers who arrived in Visakhapatnam from the United Kingdom.

Speaking to the media here on Tuesday, the Collector said 216 passengers arrived in the district from November 28 to December 25. Of them, 209 passengers were identified and seven passengers headed out of the district.

About 192 reported negative, said Vinay Chand, adding that the results of 17 persons are yet to come. Similarly, 580 people who were in close contact with the passengers were tested and 390 of them tested negative for the virus, the Collector said.

"Reports of 190 people are awaited. If any of them test positive, their swab will be sent to Hyderabad's Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology Lab for any trace of new virus strain and later to Pune for complete screening," the Collector informed.