The 62 returnees are not picking up their phones. (Representational)
The Odisha government on Monday said that as many as 62 returnees from the United Kingdom are untraceable despite the administration's request for cooperation to keep a tab on the new coronavirus strain.
As many as 181 passengers have returned to Odisha from the UK between November 30 and December 21. Of them, 62 are untraceable, Director of Public Health, Dr Niranjan Mishra, said.
He said 119 UK returnees have undergone COVID-19 tests. Of them, only six (three each in Bhubaneswar and Jagatsinghpur) have tested positive for the infection. Their genome sequencing is being done to ascertain the possibility of finding the new strain of the coronavirus, he said.
The 62 returnees are not picking up their phones. They might have provided false information in their declaration forms due to which it is not possible to trace them, Dr Mishra said.
It is, however, a matter of relief that the 62 persons had completed their 14-day quarantine period, he said.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)