Maharashtra: 8 patients detected with UK variant of COVID-19, 5 from Mumbai

After circumventing the UK variant of COVID-19 for nearly two weeks, Maharashtra on Monday detected 8 cases of passengers testing positive for the mutant strain including five cases from its capital Mumbai. As per the report, symptoms of the UK variant have been found in eight people who came to Maharashtra from the UK. These include - 5 cases in Mumbai, 1 in Thane, 1 in Pune, and 1 in Meera Road. 

Rajasthan has also reported new cases of the UK strain, registering three cases from Sadulshahar. As per SDM Hawaii Singh Yadav, a family of four had returned from the UK on December 18. The strain has been found in the husband, wife, and child. All three have been admitted to Sriganganagar District Hospital. 

The UK strain has also spread to Uttar Pradesh after four patients in UP's Meerut were detected with the mutant Coronavirus variant. The new strain has been detected in the family of the couple who returned from Britain. Other family members have also been tested for the same. 

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Since its initial detection in the United Kingdom last month, the mutant strain of the Coronavirus named B.1.1.7 has spread to as many as 30 nations including as far as the US, Middle-East, Vietnam and Atlantic. Experts have warned that the variant is highly transmissible raising fears that its global spread is inevitable.

Meanwhile, India on Sunday became the first country to successfully isolate and culture the UK strain of the Coronavirus from the UK arrivals. The Indian Council of Medical Research's (ICMR) Pune-based lab - National Institute of Virology (NIV) used vero cell lines to culture the mutant virus. To date, over 38 people have been infected for the UK variant of COVID in India.

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