New COVID-19 mutant strain not seen in India yet, says the Health Ministry

• India’s Health Ministry has said that the mutant COVID-19 strain hasn’t arrived in India as of yet.
• Asking people not to panic about the new mutant COVID-19 strain, the Health Ministry said that the variant has only increased transmissibility and not affected severity or fatality.
• The Indian government has suspended all flights from the United Kingdom after reports that the country has seen a new strain of COVID-19, which has been termed as a "super spreader".

In a weekly press briefing regarding updates of the coronavirus pandemic, India’s Health Ministry has said that the mutant COVID-19 strain hasn’t arrived in India as of yet.

“The new strain or mutation of Coronavirus seen in the United Kingdom has not been seen in India, so far,” said Dr VK Paul, Member (Health), NITI Aayog.

Asking people not to panic about the new mutant COVID-19 strain, Dr Paul said, “The new strain of COVID19 in the United Kingdom has increased transmissibility. This mutation is not affecting the severity of the disease. Case fatality is not affected by this mutation.”

However, the Health Ministry stressed that it was based on the information received so far.

The Indian government has suspended all flights from the United Kingdom after reports that the country has seen a new strain of COVID-19, termed as a "super spreader". Nine passengers from the UK who have arrived in India today have tested positive for COVID-19 and their samples have been sent to the National Institute of Virology to test for the mutant strain.

The Health Ministry also said that all the people who have entered India from the UK since November 25, will be contacted to check whether they have had any symptoms of COVID-19 and contact tracing will also be done subsequently.