India records five new cases of UK COVID-19 strain, tally rises to 25

New Delhi, Dec 31: In a recent development, India on Thursday recorded five new cases of mutated coronavirus disease pushing the total cases count to 25, the health ministry said.

According to the health ministry, out of the five fresh cases, four have been traced by National Institute of Virology in Pune and CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology in Delhi. The infected individuals have been kept in physical isolation at state health facilities.

"A total of 25 cases of mutant United Kingdom virus detected in India after genome sequencing. Four new cases found by NIV, Pune and one new case sequenced in IGIB, Delhi. All 25 persons are in physical isolation at health facilities," the health ministry official said.

The new variant of the virus detected in Britain has triggered widespread concern and travel restrictions across the world.

The variant of the coronavirus, which could be up to 70% more transmissible, is spreading rapidly in Britain, although it is not thought to be more deadly or to cause more serious illness, according to the prime minister Boris Johnson and his board of scientific advisors.