145 people infected with UK variant of coronavirus in India: MoHFW

A health worker guides passengers to a quarantine centre on their arrival from the United Kingdom, at the Chennai International Airpor, in Chennai, Tuesday, Dec. 22, 2020. Indian government has temporarily suspended all passengers' flights from the United Kingdom in the wake the new COVID-19 strain found in the country. Credit: PTI File Photo

The number of people who have tested positive for the UK variant of COVID-19 in India has climbed to 145, the Union Health Ministry said on Thursday.

All these persons have been kept in single room isolation in designated health care facilities by respective state governments, the ministry had said earlier.

Their close contacts have also been put under quarantine. Comprehensive contact tracing has been initiated for co-travellers, family contacts and others.

Genome sequencing on other specimens is going on, the ministry said.

The situation is under careful watch and regular advice is being provided to the states for enhanced surveillance, containment, testing and dispatch of samples to INSACOG (Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium) labs.

"The total number of persons found infected with the UK strain of COVID-19 is 145," the ministry said on Thursday.

The presence of the new UK variant has already been reported by several countries, including Denmark, the Netherlands, Australia, Italy, Sweden, France, Spain, Switzerland, Germany, Canada, Japan, Lebanon and Singapore.

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