New COVID-19 strain: Total 25 people in India test positive
These 25 people include the 20 who were found positiive with the mutated strain on Tuesday and Wednesday.
"All 25 persons are in physical isolation in health facilities," the health ministry said.
Among the new five cases, the mutated UK strain was detected in four at the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune and one new case was sequenced at the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB), Delhi, it said.
Comprehensive contact tracing has been initiated for co-travellers, family contacts and others.
"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 labs," the ministry said on Tuesday,
The presence of the new UK variant has already been reported by Denmark, the Netherlands, Australia, Italy, Sweden, France, Spain, Switzerland, Germany, Canada, Japan, Lebanon and Singapore, so far.
The ministry said that from November 25 to December 23 midnight, about 33,000 passengers disembarked at various Indian airports from the UK.
All these passengers are being tracked and subjected by states and UTs to RT-PCR tests.
The Government of India took cognizance of the reports of virus reported from the UK and put in place a proactive and preventive strategy to detect and contain the mutant variant, it said.
This strategy includes temporary suspension of all flights coming from the UK with effect from the midnight of December 23 till January 7 and mandatory testing of all UK-returned air passengers through RT-PCR test. The samples of all UK returnees found positive in RT-PCR test will be genome sequenced by a consortium of 10 government labs i.e. INSACOG.
Also, a meeting of the National Task Force (NTF) on COVID-19 was held on December 26 to consider and recommend testing, treatment, surveillance and containment strategy.
Besides, standard operating protocol for states and UTs to tackle the mutant variant of SARS-CoV-2 was issued on December 22.
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Efforts on to bring Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna back to India: Home Minister
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara on Friday said efforts are on to bring Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna, who is facing charges of sexual abuse against women, back to India.
He also asserted that the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the case was functioning efficiently.
The 33-year-old Prajwal, who is the grandson of JD(S) patriarch and former PM H D Deve Gowda, is facing charges of multiple instances of sexually abusing women.
The scandal has raised a political storm with the ruling Congress and BJP-JD(S) engaged in a slugfest.
Prajwal reportedly left for Germany on April 27 and is still at large.
He was BJP-JD(S) alliance's candidate from Hassan Lok Sabha segment, which went to polls in the first phase on April 26.
"Procedures are on, until we secure him, bring him back here and take action in accordance with law, they will continue. We will neither slow it nor stop it," Parameshwara told reporters on questions about the Interpol's Blue Corner Notice that was issued against Prajwal.
On BJP alleging that the government was "responsible" for Prajwal's "escape" from the country, the Minister said, "They will say it, they have to say such things. They cannot say the government is doing a good job. But we have a responsibility as a government. Such incidents cannot be taken lightly. We will do our job."
Accusing the Congress government of trying to tarnish the reputation of Deve Gowda's family instead of ensuring justice to victims of alleged sex videos scandal case involving Prajwal, JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy had recently alleged that every bit of information on the investigation is being sent to a Congress MLA of Mandya district, but not the Home Minister.
Reacting to this, Parameshwara said: "Kumaraswamy is also well aware, several things we cannot bring to the public domain, because the investigation is on. Who will brief the Mandya MLA? Making such allegations is easy. We all have responsibility and we are functioning with responsibility, and we are not under any compulsions."
"I want to tell him (Kumaraswamy) that SIT is working efficiently, and whatever they have to brief me or the Chief Minister, they will brief. Let there be no doubts about it," he said.
