Telangana In Search Of 279 Untraceable UK Returnees

Representative image; courtesy: Deccan Chronicle

Hyderabad: At least 279 UK returnees to Telangana are untraceable, according to state health officials. A total of 59 new cases were reported on Saturday taking the total number of newly caught infections among the UK returnees to 119 since it was first detected last Sunday.

All the virus-positive passengers’ samples have been sent to laboratories. It will be known by Monday whether they are carrying the new strain of coronavirus that is currently ravaging the United Kingdom, reported The Times of India.

Telangana had three new cases of the UK infected virus taking the state’s number to 21. As many as 16 new cases were reported in Goa, while there were 14 fresh cases from Maharashtra (total 17) of the new strain of the virus.

Another 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 his return on December 13.

According to Telangana officials, 92 of the untraceable returnees are from Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Karnataka, while 184 had given 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,” Telangana’s director for public health, Dr G Srinivasa Rao was quoted as saying by The Times of India.