62 UK returnees untraceable, but needn't panic: Odisha official

Bhubaneswar: Amid the fear of new coronavirus strain, as many as 62 persons who had recently returned to Odisha from the United Kingdom are untraceable, an official said on Monday.

However, there is no need to panic as these 62 UK returnees have completed their quarantine period, Public Health Director Niranjan Mishra said.

"We are trying to trace them so that their genome sequencing can be conducted," Mishra said.

He said that a total of 181 persons had returned from the UK to Odisha between November 30 and December 21. Among them, 119 persons underwent Covid-19 test and six tested positive for the virus.

"Not everyone is traceable. The 62 returnees had either given wrong addresses or telephone numbers in the declaration forms which makes tracing or contacting them difficult. We have been trying to contact them on phone, but there is no response," the officer said.

The central government has directed the states to take adequate precautions and conduct the RT-PCR and genome sequencing tests on all UK returnees.