Coronavirus: India last week suspended flights from the UK over fears of the mutant strain.
Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said today that he foresees "a short extension" of the suspension of flights from the UK to contain the spread of the new strain of coronavirus that was first detected in that country. The forecast comes on a day when India reported the first six cases the mutant strain among people who have returned from the UK.
The government had last week banned flights from the UK till December 31 with all passengers arriving from the UK having to be tested on arrival at airports.
"I foresee a short extension on this temporary suspension. I don't see the extension to be long or indefinite," Mr Puri told reporters.
Of the six who tested positive for the fast-spreading British strain that is believed to be 70 per cent more infectious, three of the patients are in NIMHANS, Bengaluru, two in Centre for Cellular & Molecular Biology, Hyderabad and one in National Institute of Virology, Pune.
All patients have been kept in "single room isolation" in designated healthcare facilities by the state governments. Their close contacts have also been put under quarantine. Comprehensive contact tracing has been started for co-travellers, their families and others, the government said.
Around 33,000 passengers arrived from the UK between November 25 and December 23. Of them, 114 have tested positive for Covid. Genome sequencing for other specimens is on, the government has said. The states where these passengers arrived, meanwhile, is tracing them and their contacts for Covid RT-PCR tests.
The UK variant of the coronavirus strain has been detected in Denmark, the Netherlands, Australia, Italy, Sweden, France, Spain, Switzerland, Germany, Canada, Japan, Lebanon and Singapore so far.