AHMEDABAD: A total of 12 out of the 1,720 passengers who reached Gujarat from the UK and other European countries between November 25 and December 23 have tested positive for coronavirus, the state government said on Sunday.
Samples of these patients --11 of who tested positive between December 9 and 23 -- have been sent to the National Institute of Virology in Pune and the Gandhinagar-based Gujarat Biological Research Centre to determine whether they were carrying the mutated COVID-19 strain found in England, an official release said.
Results are expected in the next 8 to 10 days, it added.
Passengers reaching Gujarat from the UK between December 21 and 23 were subjected to RT-PCR test at various airports.
"Accordingly, the state health department started the process of testing passengers arriving from the UK and other European countries.
Out of the 572 passengers who reached here between November 25 and December 8, one tested coronavirus positive.
"Additionally, out of the 1,148 passengers who returned from these countries between December 9 and December 23, 11 tested positive in RT-PCR testing. While four of them are from Ahmedabad, two each are from Vadodara, Anand, and Bharuch. One passenger was from Valsad," it said.
These patients have been shifted to various hospitals for treatment, the release said.
Their samples have also been sent to the National Institute of Virology and the Gujarat Biological Research Centre for a "thorough investigation into whether they have any symptoms of the new coronavirus strain detected recently".
Meanwhile, Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani's daughter, son-in-law and grandson who arrived here from London during this period underwent RT-PCR test, the release said, adding that they tested negative for coronavirus.
India banned flights to and from the UK from December 23 in view of the emergence of a new variant of COVID-19 in that country.