Last flights from UK in; govt moves to allay fears
New variant does not appear to lead to higher mortality, won’t make vaccines obsolete, say officials
NEW DELHI/KOLKATA/CHENNAI: The new variant of the coronavirus does not appear to lead to higher mortality or hospitalisation and will not make the current class of vaccines being developed obsolete — at least according to the information available at the moment — top government officials said on Tuesday, while announcing that they are stepping up genomic surveillance for a mutation that has triggered global alarm since being reported by UK over the weekend.
Tuesday was the last day of arrivals from UK before suspension kicks in till December 31, and mandatory airport testing found a few Covid positive patients in Delhi (6), Kolkata (5), Chennai (1) and Ahmedabad (4). All positive samples will now be sent for genomic surveillance. The comments by Niti Aayog’s VK Paul come at a time when scientists have said that they do not yet have adequate clues to make a judgment about the new variant, which in the least seems to be more infectious.
Six passengers travelling on Air India’s London-Delhi flight tested positive for coronavirus disease on arrival, a senior government official said on Tuesday. The flight landed around 11.30 pm on Monday.
“Five passengers were found COVID-positive at the Delhi airport. One passenger who took a connecting flight to Chennai was tested there and found positive,” the official said.
A second flight from London landed at 6am on Tuesday. Tests on the passengers are underway, said Dr Gauri Agarwal, founder of the Genestrings Diagnostic Center that is handling coronavirus testing at Delhi airport.
Meanwhile, the Union health ministry has issued standard operating procedure (SOP) for epidemiological surveillance and response in the context of the new variant and has stated that all international travellers who have travelled from or transited through the UK in the past four weeks will be required to declare their travel history of past 14 days and fill up the selfdeclaration form to be screened for Covid-19.
Speaking at a press briefing of the health ministry, Paul said there are no causes for concern and asked the people not to panic and remain vigilant about the virus. “There is no cause for concern, no need to panic, as for now. We need to stay vigilant,” he said.
While the new strain of the infection has increased transmissibility of the virus, the
severity of the disease and the case fatality are not affected by this mutation, Paul said.
“The new strain of Covid-19 in the United Kingdom has increased transmissibility. This mutation is not affecting the severity of the disease. Case fatality is not affected by this mutation,” he added.
When asked about the impact of this new mutation on the vaccines that are being developed in India, he said that the new mutation currently doesn’t impact the potential of emerging vaccines in India and elsewhere. “As of now, it has no impact on the potential of the emerging vaccines being developed in our country and are available in other countries,” he assured.
India on Monday suspended air travel from England after cases in the UK increased because of a new mutation.