India finds more passengers with covid-19 on UK flights, testing for new virus strain

Chennai, Dec 22: Two passengers, who arrived from the United Kingdom, tested positive for coronavirus at Kolkata airport on Sunday, a Kolkata airport official said.

This comes as the aviation ministry on Monday announced the suspension of all flights to and from the UK from today until the end of 31 December, and made it mandatory for all passengers arriving before the ban comes into force to be tested for Covid-19.

India has the second-highest number of Covid-19 infections in the world after the US, with its tally rising past 10 million on the weekend. Over 146,000 people have died of coronavirus in India.

More Covid cases on UK flights

In another similar incident, a passenger, who returned from the UK via Delhi to Chennai, has tested positive for coronavirus.

Speaking to news agency ANI, Tamil Nadu Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan said, "We are testing for Covid-19 passengers of flights originating or halting in UK. One such passenger tested positive yesterday. It's incorrect to presume that he is infected with UK variant of COVID. We'll send his samples to NIV, Pune."

Meanwhile, amid concerns about a new variant of SARS-CoV-2, Karnataka Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa said, "I came to know about a person who tested positive after arriving from UK. We are following all guidelines. Whoever will come from UK will be tested at the airport."

Also, five people out of 266 passengers and crew members of a flight have tested positive for the novel coronavirus at the Delhi airport from London amid the discovery of a new and more infectious coronavirus strain in the UK.

The Delhi government has also announced door-to-door checkup of those who returned from the UK in the past two weeks.

Will vaccines work against this new strain of Covid?

Experts have said despite the mutation, a Covid-19 vaccine will be equally effective against it as there was no reason to believe that vaccines that have already been developed would not be effective against the new strain as well.

Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan has said that suspending flights from and to the UK until 31 December is just a precautionary measure. "This strain has not been found in India," he said amid concerns about a new variant of SARS-CoV-2.

As per reports, experts have said that coronavirus vaccines are not dependent on one antibody. They are dependent on a number of antibodies to provide protection. So now, we don't have to worry about it.