Andhra Pradesh woman only one in state with UK coronavirus strain, say authorities. (File)
A woman who gave slip to the state authorities after testing positive for Covid at the Delhi airport, has turned out to be infected by the super infectious UK strain.
The 47-year-old, who returned from the UK on December 21, had reached Andhra Pradesh by train before she could be traced on December 24, creating what turned out a contact tracing nightmare.
For now, according to the state authorities, the woman is the only one in the state with the “70 per cent more transmissible” coronavirus mutation that was first detected in the UK. Eleven other flyers from the country have also tested positive for COVID-19 in Andhra Pradesh, they said.
"Her son tested negative while another person who came in contact with her also did not contract the (novel) coronavirus,” state Health Commissioner Katamaneni Bhaskar said.
He asserted that there is no evidence that the new UK strain of coronavirus has spread in the state. “We are constantly monitoring the situation and there is no need to panic,” the commissioner said.
Reports of the woman's escape amid high alert in view of the virulent strain had fanned fears of its mass spread.
Till now, as per the Health Ministry, the total number of Indians with the UK coronavirus variant has touched six - three in Bengaluru, two in Hyderabad, and one in Pune.
Around 33,000 passengers have arrived from the UK between November 25 and December 23. Of them, 114 have tested positive for Covid, and genome sequencing of their samples is on.
The states where these passengers arrived are tracing them and their contacts for Covid RT-PCR tests.
The UK strain surfaces at a time the spread of the infection -- after hitting a peak in September -- has slowed down. Over the last 24 hours, the country logged 16,432 cases -- the lowest since June 24. The overall coronavirus figure is now 1,02,24,303, the highest after the US, with 1.47 lakh deaths.
The centre has said states can impose restriction to contain spread of the new variant and directed compulsory genome sequencing of all international passengers who were symptomatic and tested positive for coronavirus in the 14 days starting December 9.
All flights form UK were suspended on December 21.