Coronavirus cases: 10 UK returnees test positive for COVID-19 in Karnataka

New Delhi, Dec 26: In a recent development, as many as 10 passengers who returned from the UK since November 25 have tested positive for COVID so far, Karnataka Health and Family Welfare Minister K Sudhakar said on Friday.

"According to information I possess, 10 people tested positive, all their samples have been sent to NIMHANS, two to three days are required for genetic sequencing... once that report is out, we will get to know whether it is the second strain, and accordingly we will follow necessary procedures for treatment," he said in response to a question at a press meet.

According to Sudhakar, details relating to this second strain are still being deliberated and according to initial studies, another strain of this virus discovered in South Africa is far more severe than the one found in the UK.

"We can take action only after we get the reports of these 10 positive patients. As we get (them), we will take necessary steps. I appeal the people to have faith in the government, before taking any decision we think hundred times. Protecting the health of the people is our chief concern," he said.

Earlier, the minister had said that about 2,500 people have come to the state from UK since November 25 to December 22 in flights operated by Air India and British Airways, and efforts were on to trace, monitor their health and subject them to tests.

Responding to criticism against the government, the minister observed that this is the very government that has achieved a recovery rate of 97.5 per cent, and brought down fatality rate to 1.22 per cent.