Koustav Maiti, Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Centenary College, Rahara
A young man flying back to India from London, on 20th December, 2020, tests positive for the new COVID-19 strain. He was among 222 passengers who arrived on the same plane. It had been the last flight from London before the Indian government banned all the flights coming from UK from 23rd December.
He’s the son of a medical official of Kolkata Medical College and Hospital. He was tested positive for the new mutated strain VUI-202012/01 after coming back from the UK in Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport. Now he is getting treatment in Kolkata Medical College and Hospital. He is now under special observation. But he is totally asymptomatic till now, so he does not need any special treatment.
National Institute of Biomedical Genomics (NIBMG), Kalyani had confirmed to the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and the West Bengal government on Tuesday that the youth was COVID positive of the new strain. The Government sent 7 RNA samples to NIBMG for genome analysis. 6 out of 7 were tested negative in the RT-PCR test as far as the State told. NIBMG reported that 1 RNA sample showed 17 mutations specific to the new COVID strain of the UK. There is no such research on the effectiveness of the new variant. Much analysis is needed to understand the complications of the new strain.
All 1150 cabin and cockpit crew are tested negative. Other passengers that were also within the same plane are RT-PCR tested. They are now in home quarantine.
Till now 20 cases of new corona virus strain are found in India, Among the 20 cases 8 cases are found in Delhi and 7 in Bengaluru. While the number of the new coronavirus cases was decreasing day by day, this new variant creates a new fear. So it is a high time to be alert from this new mutated coronavirus variant because it is more contagious than the previous one.
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