Last week news reports stated that the cause behind a rapid surge in coronavirus cases in the United Kingdom was due to a new variant of the virus that has been spreading rapidly. It has been classified as a Variant Under Investigation (VUI). Due to this new strain of COVID-19 that appears to be much more harmful than the initial one, the Karnataka state government, on word from Additional Chief Secretary to Health and Family Welfare Department, has made it compulsory for passengers arriving from the UK as well as those transiting in airports outside the UK to get RT-PCR testing done from today, December 22nd.
Officials at both the international airports at Mangalore and Bangalore have been asked to provide a list of passengers arriving from the UK starting from December 7th, 2020 so as to better keep track of the possible spread of the new variant. However, as of now, the Union Ministry of Civil Aviation has made the call to suspend all flights coming from the UK to India.
Those passengers who after undergoing the RT-PCR testing have tested positive will be asked to remain in isolation in hospitals and their samples will be sent to NIMHANS in Bangalore for molecular testing. Furthermore, those who tested negative will still have to be under strict home quarantine for 14 days. This will be followed-up by district surveillance officers after they gather the person’s contact details.
According to Karnataka’s Health and Family Welfare Minister, out of the 537 passengers who arrived from the UK in the past few days, approximately 138 of them have not undergone the required tests and will therefore have to do the same starting today, 22nd of December.
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