UK-Return Andhra Woman Who Escaped From Delhi Airport Has New Strain

Delhi: A 47-year-old woman, who returned from the United Kingdom on December 21, has turned out to be infected with the UK variant of the mutant coronavirus.

The woman had managed to give a slip to the state authorities after testing positive for Covid at Delhi airport. She reached Andhra Pradesh by train before she could be traced on December 24.

The woman’s escape amid high alert in view of the virulent strain had fanned fears of its mass spread. But, the state authorities have allayed any such fears as of now.

As per a report in NDTV the state authorities mentioned that the woman is the only one in the state with the “70 per cent more transmissible” coronavirus mutation that was first detected in the UK. Eleven other flyers from the country have also tested positive for COVID-19 in Andhra Pradesh, they said.

“Her son tested negative while another person who came in contact with her also did not contract the (novel) coronavirus,” state Health Commissioner Katamaneni Bhaskar said.

“We are constantly monitoring the situation and there is no need to panic,” the Commissioner said.

As per the Health Ministry, the total number of Indians with the UK coronavirus variant is six – three in Bengaluru, two in Hyderabad and one in Pune.

Around 33,000 passengers have arrived from the UK between November 25 and December 23. Of them, 114 have tested positive for COVID, and genome sequencing of their samples is on, NDTV reported.

The states where these passengers arrived are tracing them and their contacts for Covid RT-PCR tests.

The UK strain surfaces at a time the spread of the infection — after hitting a peak in September — has slowed down. Over the last 24 hours, the country logged 16,432 cases — the lowest since June 24. The overall coronavirus figure is now 1,02,24,303, the highest after the US, with 1.47 lakh deaths.

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