Amaravati : Confusion over UK strain in State

Amaravati : Has a case of a new variant of coronavirus been detected in Andhra Pradesh?

Yes, is the answer if one goes by the statement of the commissioner of health and family welfare of Andhra Pradesh, Katamaneni Bhaskar.

The commissioner stated on Tuesday that a woman passenger from London who escaped from Delhi quarantine landed in Rajamahendravaram with the new strain of the coronavirus.

The official stated that the passenger has been kept in isolation and her son who accompanied her from Delhi also was confined to isolation in a local hospital.

However, the Union health ministry in its daily briefing on Tuesday said that all international passengers who have arrived in India during the last 14 days between December 9 and 22, if symptomatic and tested positive, will be subjected to genome sequencing, in view of the new Covid-19 strain in the United Kingdom.

He added that six passengers who had arrived in India from the UK have tested positive for the mutant strain of the novel coronavirus. The official stated that three patients were in Bengaluru, two in Hyderabad and one in Pune.

Confusion over the number of affected with the new variant has arisen because the Centre's count does not seem to include the Rajamahendravaram patient announced by the AP government.

Bhaskar stated that there was no spread of UK strain in AP from the Rajamahendravaram woman.. Her son who travelled with her tested negative. The commissioner appealed to the public that there was no need to panic and not to believe in rumours as the situation was being continuously monitored by the government.

The commissioner said 1,406 persons were traced out of 1,423 who returned from the UK to our state. Of them 17 persons are yet to be traced and 12 persons were tested positive. Out of these 1,406 persons underwent RTPCR test. Further 6364 primary contacts of 1,406 persons were tested and 12 tested positive.

A total of 24 samples of these positive patients were sent to CCMB and CCMB declared that a UK strain was found in the sample of a woman belonging to Rajamahendravaram. Remaining 23 sample report results are yet to be received from CCMB.