Chennai:A passenger travelling fromLondon via Delhi to Chennai on Tuesday tested positive for COVID-19, sparking fears of the introduction of new strain of the virus in India.
He is admitted in Chennai King Institute of Preventive Medicine and Research centre.
Taking cognizance of the matter, the Tamil Nadu health administration appealed to the Indians who arrived from London to be in strict quarantine for 14 days.
J. Radhakrishnan, Health department secretary visited Chennai airport and monitored the arrangements.
Allaying the fear, he said, "People need not panic about spreading of the new strain of COVID-19. The passengers who arrived in Chennai from London in the past couple of days will be tracked down and COVID test will conducted for them."
"Administration is taking all the steps to contain the situation," Radhakrishnan added.
Also read:India quarantines travellers from UK
All flights connecting the UK and India have been suspended from Wednesday till December 31, the Civil Aviation Ministry said on Monday in view of the emergence of a mutated variant of the coronavirus there.
Moreover passengers coming from the UK through flights till Tuesday midnight would be tested for COVID-19 on arrival at airports "as a measure of abundant precaution".
A number of countries like Canada, Turkey, Belgium, Italy and Israel have banned flights from the UK as the British government warned that the potent new strain of the virus was "out of control" and imposed a stringent new stay-at-home lockdown from Sunday.
It is thought the variant either emerged in a patient in the UK or has been imported from a country with a lower ability to monitor coronavirus mutations.
(With agency inputs.)
