Coronavirus cases: 5 people from UK who landed in Delhi test positive for COVID-19

New Delhi, Dec 22: In a recent development, as many as five people out of 266 passengers and crew members of a flight have tested positive for the novel coronavirus. According to reports, the flight arrived at the Delhi airport from London on Monday night.

Speaking to news agency, Nodal officer for COVID-19 said that their samples have been sent to the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) for research and they have been sent to a care centre.

This comes after the government on Monday announced that it has temporarily banned flights from the UK to India after the emergence of a new and highly infectious strain of the coronavirus in Britain.

The suspension of flights from the UK will come into effect from Tuesday midnight and will continue till 31 December, the government said.

However, India has not yet detected the new strain of coronavirus that has spread to some parts of the UK.

The new strain is feared to be more infective and could 70 per cent more transmissible, experts in the UK noted, prompting more than 40 nations - including India - to suspend flight operations.

Italy on December 20 detected a patient infected with the new strain of the coronavirus also found in Britain, news agency ANI reported quoting the Health Ministry. The patient and his partner returned from the United Kingdom in the last few days, reports said. They reached Rome's Fiumicino airport and were now in isolation.