As the Maharashtra Government started a dry run of COVID-19 vaccinations across the state on Thursday, three more returnees from the United Kingdom have tested positive for the new mutant strain of the coronavirus, classified under the B.1.1.7 lineage. The cases were detected in an area covered by the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Corporation on Thursday.
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With the inclusion of these three cases, the state has now detected 11 people carrying the mutant strain of the virus found that was first recorded in the UK. It’s worth pointing out that all cases have been asymptomatic so far. Experts say that this new mutation of the virus is up to 70 times more transmissible than the first strain that wreaked havoc across the globe.
Health professionals have also said that this variant of COVID-19 is not more fatal or dangerous than the previous virus, while vaccine manufacturers have said that the existing vaccines will work on the new strain.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra’s tally of daily coronavirus cases has been relatively stable over the past 30 days, fluctuating between 3,000 and 4,000 cases per day. On Jan 7, the state recorded 3,729 new cases of COVID-19.
Of the 11 people detected with the mutant strain of the virus, 9 are still under institutional isolation while 2 have been released after completing 14 days of isolation. State data shows that 4,858 passengers arriving from the UK have been screened since November 25 with 3,476 of them getting tested.
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A total of 75 were tested positive upon arrival and the State Health Department has reportedly conducted contact tracing of all 75 people while also testing 341 of their close contacts. Though 30 of these contacts have tested positive, not all of them have been found to be carrying the new strain.
Dr Pradeep Awate who is the State Epidemiologist said that samples of 93 people have been forwarded for genome sequencing at the National Institute of Virology, Pune with the aforementioned 11 people testing positive. Five of these people are from Mumbai while three belong to Pimpri-Chinchwad, and one each from Pune, Thane, and Mira Bhayander, respectively.
Thursday saw the deaths of 72 people across Maharashtra due COVID-19 with the toll now standing at 49,897. Estimates show that deaths in the state could surpass the unfortunate landmark of 50,000 by as early as this weekend.
There is some encouraging news, though. As per official data, the number of cases is at a decline with only Mumbai, Nagpur, and Pune recording more than 300 cases daily. On Thursday, Mumbai recorded 665 new cases while Nagpur and Pune recorded 465 and 394 cases respectively.
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