Sample collection of travellers from UK initiated on priority in Ghaziabad and Noida

Ghaziabad: A day after the Uttar Pradesh government directed for tracking people who have returned from the United Kingdom (UK) since November 23 in the wake of

Ghaziabad: A day after the Uttar Pradesh government directed for tracking people who have returned from the United Kingdom (UK) since November 23 in the wake of the rise of a new variant of the Sars-CoV-2 virus in that country, the district administrations of Ghaziabad and Gautam Budh Nagar have identified about 200 and 425 such travellers, respectively.

HT Image

Officials said that multiple teams of the health department have set out for tracing theses travellers and collection of their samples. The new variant, referred to as Sars-CoV-2 VUI 202012/01 (Variant Under Investigation, year 2020, month 12, variant 01), was detected in the UK earlier this month and was reported to be more transmissible.

The officials of the Ghaziabad health department said that till Thursday evening, they collected samples of 41 persons while at least five teams have been deployed to get in touch with others. The officials said that they have received a list of about 200-240 travellers from the UK. However, there were signs of concern as the officials said that houses of 8-10 travellers were found locked.

“These are some people whose houses were found locked by our teams, and some have even gone out of station after their return from the UK. So, We have forwarded a list of these people to our Covid control room and they will be traced with the help of the police. We have received a list which indicates that there are about 200-240 travellers from UK so far. There are some duplicity of names, and we are figuring these out,” said chief medical officer Dr NK Gupta.

The UP government has already laid down a set of standard operating procedures (SOPs) and have laid special emphasis on tracking of those travellers who have returned from UK on December 9 or thereafter.

In the SOPs, such people will mandatorily get tests done through the RT-PCR method and will stay in home quarantine. Once their tests turn positive, they will be isolated in a facility and a part of their sample will also be sent for genome sequencing to figure out if they are infected with the latest variant of the virus, VUI-202012/01.

Ghaziabad district magistrate Ajay Shankar Pandey said, “The travellers whose houses were found locked will be traced immediately through the electronic surveillance by the police. We have already asked our two Covid hospitals to come up with separate isolation wards for travellers and similar directions have also been given to private hospitals in case the travellers wish to get admitted to private hospitals. If anyone is found infected with the new variant, they will not be allowed home isolation even if they are asymptomatic,” said Ajay Shankar Pandey, district magistrate.

Suhas LY, district magistrate of Gautam Budh Nagar, said that all the travellers have been identified in the district and teams were working on priority basis for their sample collection.

District health officials said that they identified a list of 425 travellers till Thursday evening who have arrived from UK to the district since November 23. “The collection of sampling is taken up on priority basis. We have 12 teams which are out in field for sample collection. The sample collection work will continue till late night,” said Dr Sunil Dohre, district surveillance officer, GB Nagar.

Even the state government officials said that they are focussing on testing of travellers who have returned from UK so that any spread of new variant is kept under control.

“It is mandatory for those who returned from UK on or after December 9 to get their RT-PCR test done. They can take up tests at the nearest testing centre or can contact the control room or the chief medical officer. This variant is known to spread fast and we do not want it to spread in the state. In case the RT-PCR test is negative for such travellers, they will still need to remain home quarantine for at least one week,” said Amit Mohan Prasad, UP’s additional chief secretary (health).

“Even those who have returned from European countries and showing symptoms, should also take up RT-PCR test at the earliest,” he added.