Coronavirus / Total number of cases of UK coronavirus strain in India rises to 29

New Delhi: The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Friday said that four more new cases of mutant strain have been detected int eh country, taking the total tally to 29.

As per updates, out of the four cases, three were found in Bengaluru, while one was detected in Hyderabad. Till now, 10 cases have been detected by labs in Delhi, 10 by a Bengaluru lab, one in West Bengal, three in Hyderabad and five by the National Institute of Virology, Pune.

The government stated that all 29 patients have been kept in isolation at designated health facilities for treatment.

It is said that the new strain is more contagious than the other strains of the virus which have been detected in Denmark, Netherlands, Australia, Italy, Sweden, France, Spain, Switzerland, Germany, Canada, Japan, Lebanon and Singapore.

The new coronavirus strain, which was first detected in September and confirmed by the UK authorities in December, was first found in India earlier this week in travellers who returned from the European country.

Taking preventive measures, the Centre has banned all international flights to and from UK till January 31. The Centre has also started a genome sequencing project involving 10 laboratories across the country.

Notably, three metro cities including Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai, and several states such as Punjab and Kerala have announced restrictions on big gatherings and night curfew ahead of the New Year celebrations. This was after the centre advised states to restrict large gatherings in view of the more infectious coronavirus strain.

India added 20,035 coronavirus infections in the past 24 hours, placing its overall number at 1.02 crore cases. With 256 new fatalities, the deaths count reached 1,48,994.