‘New Covid-19 strain not in India yet but can’t…’: Director ICMR-NARI

Director and scientist of ICMR-National AIDS Research Institute (NARI), Dr Samiran Panda said that lowering our guards would be disastrous even though the new Covid-19 strain hasn't been seen in India yet. He said, “We have tested samples collected from the various parts of the country and haven't seen the mutant strain of SARS-CoV2 found in the United Kingdom. Over the last 6-7 months, the viral genome studies that have taken place involving over 2,000 samples in India, have not identified this mutation. It is premature to think that the efforts to develop a vaccine are going to fall apart. There isn't enough scientific evidence to say that the vaccine is going to fail.” UK officials have said the new strain is 70% more contagious than the old one. The Indian government has temporarily banned flights to and from UK till December 31. Watch the full video for more.