14 more UK returnees found with new mutant coronavirus; tally rises to 20
New COVID strain in India: While the Health Ministry on Tuesday confirmed 6 cases of new mutant coronavirus strain which was found in the UK, 14 new cases have been detected in India taking the total number of cases to 20. The mutant coronavirus strain, first reported in the UK has been detected in 14 more passengers who have recently returned from the UK. Also Read | Farmers protest: Babbu Maan says it loud and clear The government of India has suspended the flights from the United Kingdom from December 23 onwards and started testing those landing in India. The development took place when London and other parts of the United Kingdom witnessed strict lockdown because of mutant coronavirus strain. Meanwhile, the Civil Aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Tuesday said that he foresees the extension on temporary suspension on India-UK flights. Also Read | "Government alert, no need to panic": Harsh Vardhan on mutant coronavirus in UK Among 20 positive patients, eight were confirmed by National Centre for Disease Control, New Delhi, seven by NIMHANS, Bengaluru, two by Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad, and one each by other labs among 10 in the genome consortium. Of 33,000 passengers who returned from the UK to India, 114 had coronavirus while 20 of them had reported the new COVID strain and are in isolation as contact tracing is still underway. Coronavirus in India India reported 20,550 new COVID-19 cases, 26,572 recoveries, and 286 deaths in the last 24 hours. The total cases have increased to 1,02,44,853 including 2,62,272 active cases, 9,83,4141 recoveries and 1,48,439 death toll. -PTC News