The B.1.1.7 variant of SARS-CoV-2 was discovered in Kent, UK in December 2020, and has since spread across the globe, contributing to the increase in cases being seen in Europe and Britain's own second wave of the pandemic earlier in the year, Shefield University said in a press release on Friday.
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has found a total of 192 Covid-19 cases of the new variants of mutated SARS-CoV-2 in last two months, including four from the variant emerging in South Africa and one from the Brazilian variant, officials said on Tuesday
The COVID-19 vaccine developed by Oxford University and produced by AstraZeneca has shown efficacy against the UK variant of the coronavirus, according to an ongoing study by researchers.
Scientists have found that the Kent variant of Covid-19, which has been spreading around the UK, appears to be undergoing some worrying new genetic changes.
US-based drugmaker Moderna on Monday said its Covid-19 vaccine retains neutralising activity against emerging variants first identified in the UK and South Africa.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that the country will close all travel corridors from Monday onwards in a bid to keep out new coronavirus variants.
Till January 11, the number of people affected by this strain of the coronavirus was 96. On Wednesday, the ministry said, "The total number of persons found to be positive with the new UK variant genome stands at 102 today."
An official said out of the 11 travellers who tested positive to the new variant, three each were from Mumbai and Pimpri-Chinchwad, two from Pune and one from Mira-Bhayander, while one each from Goa and Gujarat.
Sources on Friday had said that 14 residents of the national capital had been found infected with the mutant variant of COVID-19 that was first detected in the UK.
According to the ministry, all 90 persons have been kept in single room isolation in designated healthcare facilities by the respective state governments. Their close contacts have also been put under 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.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday urged the Centre to extend the ban on flights between India and the UK till January 31 in view of the “extremely serious” COVID situation in that country.
All the international passengers who have arrived in India between December 9 and 22, if symptomatic and tested positive for COVID-19 will be subjected to genome sequencing as part of the Centre's strategy to detect the mutated UK variant in them.
The 'UK' coronavirus variant had been detected in 41 countries/territories, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a statement.
According to a statement by Dr Suresh Kumar, medical director of Lok Nayak Jai Prakash (LNJP) Hospital, one Covid patient admitted there has been detected carrying the UK strain with the lab test confirming it on Tuesday.
A youth, who returned from the UK had recently tested positive for the new strain found in Britain. Out of 44 returnees, the results of genomic analysis of 12 have been received and 32 were being awaited, he said in a statement tonight.
As of Monday, there were 26,626 COVID-19 patients in hospitals in England, an increase of more than 30% from a week ago. That is 40% above the highest level of the first wave in the spring.
Delhi recorded 494 fresh COVID-19 cases on Saturday, the lowest in over seven months, and 14 new fatalities, even as the positivity rate stood at 0.73 per cent, authorities said.
Results of the 15 samples that had tested positive for coronavirus on arrival in Ahmedabad from the UK are currently pending with the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune.
Another 53,285 people in Britain have tested positive for Covid-19, bringing the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 2,542,065, according to official figures released on Friday.
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