Delhi: 14-day institutional quarantine for AP & Telangana travellers amid N440K strain

On Thursday, the Delhi government directed that all persons arriving from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana in the national capital will have to undergo institutional quarantine for 14 days. This order is based on the premise that the COVID-19 variant N440K found in these states has a shorter incubation period with a high transmission rate. However, a traveller from AP and Telangana who is completely vaccinated or having a negative RT-PCR report not older than 72 hours will be allowed 7-day home quarantine. 

This rule will also be applicable to those travelling from the aforesaid states to other states through Delhi by train or air. However, all constitutional, government functionaries and their staff members accompanying them who are arriving in the national capital on official work are exempted if they are asymptomatic. Any person violating these instructions will be proceeded against as per the provisions of Sections 51-60 of the Disaster Management Act and Section 188 of the Indian Penal Code. At present, there are 91,859 active novel coronavirus cases while 11,43,980 patients have recovered and 18,063 deaths have been reported.

CCMB clears the air about variant

Incidentally, the AAP government's order comes a day after Hyderabad's Centre For Cellular And Molecular Biology (CCMB) rubbished the speculation that the N440K strain is more virulent. Maintaining that the mutant is not new, the CCMB stated that it has been prevalent in South India since 2020. Moreover, it added that their genome studies say that N440K is now diminishing and advised people to mask up, avoid crowded places and maintain good hygiene.

Speaking to Republic, PV Sudhakar, District COVID special officer and Principal of Andhra Medical College said, " It is found to be very prevalent in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana as well as in Maharashtra. However, naming it as 'Vizag strain' is something very amusing and I do not know who has named it. At the same time calling it 15 times more virulent, does not stand with the scientific scrutiny. The general observation made by the Doctors are-- reduced incubation period, progression of the disease is faster, more youngsters, women and children are getting infected, more people require oxygen and death toll has also increased compared to the first wave. It has been speculated that this particular strain is restricted to Andhra Pradesh but a similar strain is witnessed in Maharashtra and Telangana."