Three more returnees to Maharashtra from the United Kingdom (UK) were found infected with the new 'fast-spreading' coronavirus variant, taking the tally to 11. On Thursday, all three passengers to have tested positive are from Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC), said a Special Surveillance Report from the Maharashtra government.
Earlier on Monday, Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope announced that a total of eight passengers who had returned from the UK have tested positive for the mutant coronavirus. Out of the eight positive patients, five were from Mumbai and one each from Pune, Thane and Mira Bhayandar.
Meanwhile, a total of 4,858 UK returnees have been traced in Maharashtra so far. 3,476 of them have been tested for coronavirus, while 75 of them have tested positive (Mumbai 33, Pune 14, Thane 8, Nagpur 9, Nashik, Aurangabad, Raigad & Buldhana 2 each, Osmanabad, Nanded and Washim 1 each). Besides, samples of these 75 patients were referred to Pune's National Institute of Virology (NIV) for genomic sequencing.
522 close contacts of these positive patients were also tested for coronavirus, of which 30 were found to be positive. Samples of 18 of them were referred to NIV for genomic sequencing.
Moreover, of the 11 cases of the new coronavirus variant, one each is from Gujarat and Goa, and all of them are asymptomatic. So far, two have been discharged (one each from Pune and Mumbai) after completing 14 days of quarantine and two of their consecutive samples were found negative after conducting RT-PCR test.
Meanwhile, 3,729 patients have been tested positive for COVID-19 in Maharashtra on Thursday. "Today, newly 3729 patients have been tested as positive in the state. Also newly 3350 patients have been cured today. Totally 1056109 patients are cured & discharged from the hospitals. Total Active patients are 51111. The patient recovery rate in the state is 94.78%," tweeted Tope.
