Another Delhi resident tests positive for new coronavirus strain
One more Delhi resident has tested positive for the new coronavirus strain detected in the UK, sources said on Friday, as the authorities conducted door-to-door check-up of the people who had recently arrived here from the UK and those who came in their contact in the city. Till Thursday, their count had stood at 13.
"One more person has tested positive for the UK strain, while five others whose samples were also sent for genome sequencing came out negative. These all cases are part of the door-to-door exercise," a source said.
With this, 14 residents of the national capital have so far been found infected with the mutant variant of COVID-19 that was first detected in the UK.
Meanwhile, passenger flights resumed from the UK to India in limited numbers from Friday onwards after being suspended for 16 days due to the emergence of the new coronavirus variant in that country.
Air India's AI112 flight from London landed at the Delhi airport at around 10.30 AM.
It was the only UK flight to land in Delhi on Friday and it had 256 passengers in it, said Gauri Agarwal, founder of the Genestrings Diagnostic Centre, which is handling coronavirus testing of all passengers at the Delhi airport.
Later during the day, she said two out of 256 persons were found positive for COVID-19 when tested on arrival.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Health Minister Satyendar Jain had on Friday appealed to the Centre to extend the ban on UK flights till the end of January.
On Friday, the city government issued an order, saying, "Those (passengers arriving here from the UK) who are found negative shall be kept in compulsory institutional quarantine for a period of 7 days followed by 7 days of home quarantine."
Delhi recorded 444 fresh COVID-19 cases, and 10 new fatalities on Friday, even as the positivity rate dipped to 0.59 per cent, authorities said. The infection tally in the city stands at 6.29 lakh and the death toll mounted to 10,654, they said.
(With PTI inputs)
