P. Sarojini
Hyderabad, India (CWBN)_ Following the discovery of the new strain of coronavirus in UK, government of India had alarmed its state governments to track record of the passengers who had returned from UK in recent times. Accordingly, Andhra Pradesh reported four Covid-19 positive cases from 1,148 passengers who have returned from UK in the past one month. The positive samples were sent to the National Institute of Virology in Pune and Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology in Hyderabad to check for the presence of the new strain.
According to the State Health Commissioner Katamaneni Bhaskar, in the past one month, 1,148 passengers have returned from the United Kingdom, and only 1,040 people have been identified so far. The Health Commissioner said that among the total passengers, 18 people belonged to other states and 16 of them had given invalid addresses, while attempts were underway to locate the remaining 88 passengers.
He stated that the 982 identified UK returnees have been isolated and placed under quarantine for fourteen days. He added, “It will take at least three days to get the result of the four positive samples sent to NIV and CCMB for analysis. But there is no need to panic”.
The Commissioner also said that on December 28, in compliance with the Central government’s instructions, a trial phase of COVID-19 vaccination will take place in the state at five locations in the Krishna district. He added that this trial run is planned to specifically assess whether or not the web-based program is operating properly.
