In the first such case in Madhya Pradesh, a 39-year-old man who returned to Indore from the UK last month has tested positive for the new coronavirus strain, senior officials said on Friday.
The patient, who is asymptomatic, has been placed in home isolation, district collector Manish Singh said.
It was the first case of infection of the UK variant of the virus in the state, said Dr Veena Sinha, additional director, MP Health Department. After returning from the UK, the man had come in contact with 39 persons, 34 of them from outside Indore district, a local health official said.
These 34 persons were contacted and informed about his status. The remaining five, including two of the patient's family members, are from Indore and have undergone COVID-19 tests and are in good health, the official added.
The man returned from the UK on December 23 and tested positive for coronavirus.
His samples were then sent to the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Delhi and its report confirmed that he was carrying the new variant of the virus, the official said.
