20 more test positive for UK virus strain

New Delhi: Twenty more people in India have tested positive for the coronavirus variant detected in the United Kingdom, the Hindustan Times reported on Tuesday, citing the health ministry. With this, a total of 58 samples have been found to be positive with the new virus strain.

A consortium of laboratories, set up by the Centre, conducted genome sequencing and released test results.

Among the sequenced samples, 19 cases have been detected in two Delhi labs, 25 in Pune, 10 in Bengaluru, three in Hyderabad, and one in Kolkata.

So far, the samples have been sequenced in six of the 10 designated labs across the country. Genome sequencing can provide crucial information about how a virus is evolving or if new variants are emerging, how the virus is spreading from one place to another and whether cases in a given cluster are linked to one another.

From November 25 to December 23, 2020, about 33,000 passengers arrived at various airports in India from the UK. All of them are being tracked and tested via RT-PCR or reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction tests.

"All these persons have been kept in single-room isolation in designated health care facilities by respective state governments," the health ministry said in a statement.