76 UK returnees have COVID-19, 11 of them carry new strain

As many as 3,519 travellers fromthe UK have undergone RT-PCR tests in Maharashtra so far, and76 of them tested positive for COVID-19, including 11 who werefound infected with the new coronavirus variant, said a statehealth department officer on Monday.

He said the authorities have traced 536 close contactsof the travellers who tested positive and 358 of them havealready undergone tests, of which 31 were found positive forCOVID-19.

After a new variant of COVID-19 was found in the UKlate last year, the Maharashtra Government had directedauthorities concerned to trace travellers who arrived in thestate from Britain between November 25 and December 21, 2020.

According to the official, so far 4,869 travellersfrom the UK have been traced and of them 3,519 were putthrough RT-PCR tests.

He said, ''76 out of 3,519 travellers subjected to RT-PCR tests were found positive for COVID-19.'' Of the 76 patients, 31 were from Mumbai, 17 from Pune,nine from Nagpur, eight from Thane, two each from Nashik,Aurangabad, Raigad and Buldhana, and one each from Osmanabad,Nanded and Washim, he said.

Out of the 76 samples which were referred to theNational Institute of Virology in Pune for genome sequencing,11 were found infected with the new variant of COVID-19, hesaid.

The official said out of the 11 travellers who testedpositive to the new variant, three each were from Mumbai andPimpri-Chinchwad, two from Pune and one from Mira-Bhayander,while one each from Goa and Gujarat.

According to the official, all the 11 travellers wereasymptomatic and two of them, one each from Pune and Mumbai,were discharged after their two consecutive samples testednegative for the infection.