Bhubaneswar: Three UK returnees in the city have tested positive for COVID-19 and the government has sent their samples to the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune for genome sequencing, Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) Commissioner Prem Chandra Chaudhary informed on Tuesday.
Chaudhary said in the first phase, the BMC had received a list of 28 UK returnees and three of them tested positive for the virus. “The samples of the three returnees was sent to Pune on Tuesday for genome sequencing to ascertain the presence of the mutated COVID-19 strain,” he added.
He further informed that the BMC has drawn up a list of 60-70 UK returnees for the second phase and officials are collecting their phone numbers and other details.
“To ascertain the the date of their return from the UK, the BMC has formed six teams for three zones in the city,” he said.
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