7 who arrived from UK test +ve for mutated virus strain

7 who arrived from UK test +ve for mutated virus strain

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi:30.12.2020

The new UK variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus — which is 70% more transmissible — has been detected in India with at least seven returnees from the country, including a two-year-old girl, testing positive for the mutant variant, the government said on Tuesday. Vaccines under evaluation will work against the new strain, too, the Centre said.

“Most vaccines do target the spike protein (and) there are changes in the variants. But vaccines stimulate our immune system to produce a wide range of protective antibodies,” principal scientific adviser K Vijay Raghavan said. The changes seen in the variant virus allow it to attack and enter human cells more effectively.

Chennai man tests +ve for new variant

A 25-year-old Chennai man, who returned from the UK, tested positive for the new virus strain. He has been admitted to the National Institute of Ageing in Guindy and is stable. The number of cases in TN, meanwhile, fell below the 1,000-mark after 212 days.

UK returnee who fled to AP is +ve

The AP government is on high alert after reports confirmed that the 47-year-old woman from the UK who had evaded health authorities at Delhi airport and returned to AP on a train last week was carrying the mutated coronavirus strain. P 14

UP confirmed its first case of the mutant strain with a 2-yr-old girl

Parents, However, Were Found To Be Infected With Old Covid-19 Variant

“All these passengers are being tracked and subjected by states and UTs to RT-PCR tests. So far, only 114 have been found positive. These positive samples have been sent to 10 genome sequencing labs. Six samples of UK returnees found to be positive with the new UK variant genome are in Bengaluru (3), CCMB Hyderabad (2) and NIV Pune (1), the health ministry said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh confirmed its first case of the mutant strain with a two-year-old girl, who recently returned to Meerut with her parents from the UK, was found to be infected with it. Her parents, however, were found to be infected with the old Covid-19 variant, the UP health department said. The child is in an isolation ward with her parents at Meerut’s Subharti Medical College.

The presence of the new UK variant has already been reported by Denmark, the Netherlands, Australia, Italy, Sweden, France, Spain, Switzerland, Germany, Canada, Japan, Lebanon and Singapore.

The government has amplified testing, surveillance and containment measures along with genome sequencing of positive samples and also urged people to strictly adhere to Covid-appropriate norms even after vaccine becomes available. The government has set up the Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium of 10 government labs to test and sequence 5% of the positive samples, including those of all international passengers.

Though currently the evidence indicates higher infectiousness of the new strain with no increase in severity of the disease caused by it, the government will initiate studies to see the relationship between the new variant and the virulence.

Raghavan said the increased transmissibility of the UK variant is a cause of concern. Of the 17 changes in the virus, eight are in the spike protein and are important. “One change, N501Y, increases affinity for the ACE2 receptor, used for viral entry into human cells. N501Y has been linked earlier to increased infectivity and transmission in animal models,” he said.

He added that South Africa, which has also discovered various mutations in the virus, shared the N501Y change with the UK variant, in addition to other distinct changes.

In the UK, prevalence of the spike gene variant was found in all positive results from samples collected from the field since October, validating that this strain is more transmissible.

India has suspended all flights coming from the UK with effect from midnight December 23 till December  31.

From November 25 till midnight December 23, about 33,000 passengers from the UK disembarked at various Indian airports.

All persons with the UK strain are in single-room isolation in designated healthcare facilities of respective state governments. Their close contacts have also been put under quarantine. Comprehensive contact-tracing has been initiated for cotravellers, family contacts and others. Genome sequencing on other specimens is going on, the ministry said.

“The situation is under careful watch and regular advice is being provided to the states for enhanced surveillance, containment, testing, dispatch of samples to INSACOG labs,” the government said.

A medic demonstrates how to administer COVAXIN to a health worker during its trials at the Urban Primary Health Centre at Tezpur in Assam on Tuesday