Five out of 266 passengers and crew members of a London to Delhi flight have tested positive for coronavirus, an official said on Tuesday, amid rising concerns over the discovery of a new strain of coronavirus in the UK.
“Five out of 266 passengers and crew members of a flight which arrived at Delhi airport from London last night have tested positive for COVID-19. Their samples have been sent to NCDC for research and they have been sent to the care centre,” said a Nodal officer for COVID-19.
This comes as flight services from the UK to India have been suspended till December 31 over the spread of a new strain of coronavirus in London and England.
Also read | India bans flights from UK over new Covid-19 variant spread
However, India has not yet detected the new strain of coronavirus that has spread to some parts of the UK. Virology experts who have been performing genome sequencing have confirmed saying that they have not come across this particular strain as of now.
Also read | Italy finds patient with new coronavirus strain which UK said is ‘out of control’
Furthermore, scores of passengers arriving from the UK in Mumbai on Tuesday morning have been sent for institutional quarantine in the wake of the new virus strain.
Also read | New variant of coronavirus was ‘out of control’ in UK; lockdown can be extended: Health Secretary
On December 20, Prime Minister Boris Johnson had informed the public that a new variant of the COVID-19 virus has been found in the UK.
“Given the early evidence we have on this new variant of the virus, and the potential risk it poses, it is with a heavy heart that I must tell you we cannot continue with Christmas as planned,” he had tweeted.
(With inputs from agencies)
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