On December 19, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned of the mutant virus strain which has quickly spread across London and the southeast of England. By the week ending December 9, the new variant accounted for 62 per cent in London, 59 per cent in eastern England, and 43 per cent in the South East.
According to UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock, the new variant was "out of control".
As a result, many countries went on high alert including India. Recently, India decided to suspend all flights from and to the UK between December 23 to 31 amid fears of a new and more infectious coronavirus variant found in the country. India joined a growing list of countries like Canada, Germany, France, Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, and Italy who have temporarily halted flights to the UK.
Also Read: Japan bans new entries of foreigners to fight virus variant
Now going by the reports of ANI, six UK returnees found positive for the new UK variant of COVID19 genome in India. As per reports, samples of 3 UK returnees have been tested and found positive for new UK strain in NIMHANS, Bengaluru, two in Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad and one in National Institute of Virology, Pune. All 6 people have been kept in single room isolation.