Those international passengers who have arrived in India during the last 14 days, if symptomatic and tested positive, will be subjected to genome sequencing, in view of the new COVID strain in the United Kingdom.
This applies to all the international passengers who flew to the country between December 9 and December 22, 2020.
"All the international passengers who have arrived in India during last 14 days (from 9th December to 22nd December 2020), if symptomatic and tested positive will be subjected to genome sequencing, in view of the new COVID strain in the United Kingdom," the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said.
Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan on Tuesday informed that about 5,000 genome sequences had been done across labs prior to the news of the UK variant.
"Prior to the news of the UK variant came in, we had done roughly 5,000 genome sequences across labs. Now we'll be significantly increasing that number and would be working in a coordinated manner," Bhushan said.
Meanwhile, Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri has hinted at an extension of the temporary suspension of flights between India and the UK beyond December 31. "I foresee a slight extension of temporary suspension of India-UK flights. In the next day or two, we will find out if any additional steps to be taken, or when we can start easing the current temporary suspension," the minister said today.
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