Aurangabad woman returns from UK, tests positive for Covid-19; sample to be sent for strain testing

The civic body will now send her sample to the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune to confirm the type of strain she is infected with.

A 57-year-old woman in Aurangabad city of central Maharashtra had travelled to the United Kingdom and has tested positive for Covid-19.

File photo (HT PHOTO)

The local civic body has kept her at a hospital dedicated to the passengers who have returned from the UK. She may be the first person in the state to test positive for the virus after visiting the UK where a new strain of coronavirus disease has been found.

The civic body will now send her sample to the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune to confirm the type of strain she is infected with.

The state government has put the administration on alert after discovery of a new strain Covid-19 which is believed to be much more infectious than all the previous strains. It has directed the civic bodies and district collectors to trace and conduct tests of all those who came from the UK between November 15 and December 23.

“This woman arrived in Mumbai on December 15 and by road reached Aurangabad the next day. Following the directives, we traced and conducted her RT-PCR test and her report on Friday confirmed that she is positive for Covid-19. However, she is still asymptomatic,” said Dr Nita Padalkar, assistant municipal commissioner and medical officer of health, Aurangabad municipal corporation.

Dr Padalkar said her RT-PCR test conducted in London on December 11 was negative and thus it is difficult to say if she is a carrier or she got infected in transit or after arrival in the country. “To know the type of virus, we have again collected her sample and will send it to the NIV, Pune, on Monday and after getting her report we will be able to comment further,” she said.

The woman stays in Aurangabad city with her husband and his sample was also collected today. The civic body is now trying to trace other people whom she came in contact with while travelling to Aurangabad from Mumbai, the medical officer of health said. The government has already banned flights from the UK. It has also started tracing and testing passengers from the UK who came before the ban was imposed.