10 more UK-returned persons test positive for Covid-19 in Delhi; total 31

Ten more contacts of people who recently returned to Delhi from the United Kingdom, where a super-spreader strain of coronavirus has been reported, were found to be COVID positive, officials said on Monday.

With this, the total number of infected persons, including those who returned from the United Kingdom (UK) and their contacts, has gone up to 31.

"Eight people who came in contact with the UK-returned infected persons tested positive for coronavirus on Sunday. Two more contacts tested positive on Monday," a senior Delhi government official said.

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Earlier, the father of a UK-returned person who tested positive for Covid-19 contracted the disease, he said.

All the 31 people have been admitted to a special ward set up at LNJP hospital for the UK-returned and their contacts found positive for the virus.

Their samples have been sent for genome sequencing to ascertain whether they have been infected with the mutated strain in the UK or the one prevalent locally.

"The genome report is expected to be submitted on Tuesday or Wednesday," a senior health department official said.

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Out of the 31 infected persons, 11 tested positive following the RTPCR test conducted at the Indira Gandhi International (IGI) airport here after their arrival from UK. Nine other UK-returned people were found positive in the city government's district-level door-to-door contact and testing drive.

The district-level teams contact those who had returned from the UK after November 25 and test them for the virus. Extensive contact tracing is also underway to identify and test those persons who came in their contact and have developed any symptoms, officials said.

Out of over 13,000 passengers who landed at IGI airport, around 1,400 have been identified as Delhi residents. The list of passengers provided by the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security is being sorted and all the Delhi residents who returned from the UK are being contacted, they said.

Delhi Health minister Satyendar Jain had last week said tracing and testing of all those who travelled to Delhi from the UK in the past weeks would be ensured.