NEW DELHI: Taking into account the reports on latest coronavirus strain, Delhi Health Minister Satyendar Jain on Tuesday said that people who travelled to Delhi from the UK in the past 10 days are being traced, tested and advised quarantine, adding that door-to-door testing for these travellers is also being conducted.
“We will go house-to-house and do check-up of passengers to assess their condition, and also advise them to isolate themselves for some time,” he said.
Assuring about the preparedness of Delhi to combat the new strain, Jain said that all people who are travelling via the UK are being tested at the airport, and those travelling on international flights are required to carry a Covid-19 test report with them.
“I request everyone to wear a mask, because that is the only way to stay safe, no matter the strain. If you step out with a mask on, you will be able to combat with any number of strains,” the minister added.
It is upto the ICMR to test and clarify the differences and ways of detection, owing to the new strain’s scientific nature, he added.
“As Delhi has successfully combated the third wave of coronavirus, and we wouldn’t want anything to hamper our success, we still be conducting tests. According to the information provided, the new strain is contagious, and as seen in Britain is spreading at a fast rate. Therefore we are taking all proper decisions to not let the new strain affect Delhi,” the minister noted.
A new vaccine is being prepared to treat COVID-19, he said. Asked if the new strain could negate its efficacy, he said, “Only scientists and ICMR can comment on it”. Meanwhile, the first shipment of the vaccine will reach Delhi in the last week of December. According to reports, the Vaccine Cold Chain setup has almost being completed at Delhi’s Rajiv Gandhi Super speciality hospital.
46 new cases, tally at 24,606 in Noida
Uttar Pradesh’s Gautam Buddh Nagar recorded 46 new Covid-19 cases that pushed the district’s infection tally to 24,606 on Tuesday, official data showed. Active cases in the district came down to 572 from 579 the previous day, as the recovery rate remained over 97 per cent, according to the data released by the UP Health Department for a 24-hour period.
The number of active cases in Gautam Buddh Nagar is the seventh highest in the state.On the bright side, 53 more patients got discharged in the district during the period with the overall recoveries reaching 23,946, the fifth-highest in the state.
Gautam Buddh Nagar now has a death toll of 88 and a mortality rate of 0.35 per cent. The recovery rate of patients reached 97.31 per cent, the statistics showed.
Meanwhile, the number of active Covid-19 cases in UP came down to 16,691 from 16,822 on Monday.