With nine more U.K. returnees testing positive on Saturday, a total of 23 samples are now lined up for genome sequencing at NIMHANS. Of the 2,127 persons who returned to Karnataka from the U.K. from December 1 till December 22, as many as 1,434 have been tested for COVID-19 so far.
Health and Medical Education Minister K. Sudhakar said the genome sequencing reports that are likely to be ready in another 48 hours will be sent to the Union Health Ministry. “About 38,500 people have returned from the U.K. to India. The Indian Council of Medical Research will collate reports from all States and then come up with consolidated data,” he said.
“All necessary precautions are being taken at airports. We have also made arrangements to test people who do not have a negative COVID-19 report at airports itself,” he pointed out.
Mr. Sudhakar said his department will soon come up with guidelines on prevention and containment of the new variant of SARS-CoV-2 after discussing with the Union Home Ministry.
“We will also issue guidelines for New Year celebrations. I will hold a meeting with the Home Department soon,” he added.
Meanwhile, the State on Saturday reported 857 new cases of COVID-19, taking the total number of cases to 9,15,345. With seven deaths, the toll rose to 12,051. This is apart from 19 deaths of patients due to non-COVID-19 reasons.
As many as 964 persons were discharged on Saturday, taking the total number of recoveries to 8,89,881. Of the remaining 13,394 active patients, 205 were being monitored in the ICU. While the positivity rate for the day stood at 0.89%, the Case Fatality Rate (CFR) touched 0.81%.
Bengaluru Urban reported 471 cases, taking its tally to 3,86,057. With four deaths coming from Bengaluru, the toll in this district rose to 4,291. Active cases in Bengaluru reduced to 8,795. As many as 95,552 tests were conducted in the last 24 hours, including 90,385 RT-PCR tests. With this, the total tests rose to 1,36,09,914.
