279 UK returnees in T’gana ‘untraceable’

279 UK returnees in T’gana ‘untraceable’

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

27.12.2020

At least 279 passengers who recently returned from the UK to Telangana are untraceable, state health officials said on Saturday. With 52 new cases recorded on Saturday, the number of infected across the country among passengers who had returned from Britain rose to 120 over the past seven days.

Samples taken from all the virus-positive passengers have been sent to labs for sequencing and by Monday it is likely to be known whether they are carrying the more transmissible variant ravaging the UK at present.

There were three new cases in Telangana, taking the state’s UK infected number to 21. Goa reported 16 Covid-positive cases among travellers from the UK, while there were 14 new cases from Maharashtra (total 17).

Genome sequencing to check ‘UK strain’

At least 5% of positive cases from all states and UTs should be tested for whole genome sequencing to check for the presence of the “UK strain” as part of “prospective surveillance”, the National Task Force for Covid-19 has suggested.

‘184 UK returnees furnished wrong ph no. & addresses’

One more passenger tested positive in Nashik but it was unclear if he had contracted the novel coronavirus in the UK because he had tested negative at Mumbai airport on returning on December

13. A male passenger tested positive in Odisha, taking the state count to two.

Kerala reported three new infected passengers, taking the total to eight, and Uttar Pradesh saw eight UK returnees test positive. One passenger from Mysuru (Karnataka) was found to have the virus, while Andhra Pradesh reported six virus-positive cases.

Telangana officials said 92 of the untraceable returnees are from the neighbouring states of Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Karnataka, and 184 had furnished wrong phone numbers and addresses. “We have forwarded their details to their respective state governments so that they can help trace these returnees. A search is on to find the rest,” said Dr G Srinivasa Rao, Telangana’s director for public health. “People with the new type of virus need not worry. They only need be vigilant, use the mask properly, follow physical distancing and wash their hands regularly,” Dr Rao said.

Of the 14 new cases in Maharashtra, three are from Mumbai, four from Thane, one from Nagpur, two from Pune and one each from Nanded, Ahmednagar, Raigad, Aurangabad.

UP additional chief secretary (health and family welfare) Amit Mohan Prasad said the Central government had provided a list of 1,655 persons who had returned from or via the UK to the state. “Of these, 1,087 have been tracked, while 609 have been tested and eight were found to be positive,” Prasad said on Saturday.

GOVT BEGINS TRACING