New Delhi: The number of people who have tested positive for the UK variant of COVID-19 in India has climbed to 145, the Union Health Ministry said Thursday. All these persons have been kept in single room isolation in designated health care facilities by the respective state governments, the ministry informed. Their close contacts have also been put under quarantine. Comprehensive contact tracing has been initiated for co-travellers, family contacts and others. Genome sequencing on other specimens is going on, the Health Ministry said.
The situation is under careful watch and regular advice is being provided to the states for enhanced surveillance, containment, testing and dispatch of samples to INSACOG (Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium) labs, the ministry informed.
The presence of the new UK variant has already been reported by several countries, including Denmark, the Netherlands, Australia, Italy, Sweden, France, Spain, Switzerland, Germany, Canada, Japan, Lebanon and Singapore.
![Local residents remove debris from a house of their neighbour damaged by a Russian military strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the town of Hlevakha, outside Kyiv, Ukraine [Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters]](https://i0.wp.com/www.orissapost.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/UK.webp?resize=360%2C180&ssl=1)
