COVID-19 UK strain cases rises to 116 in India

“The total number of persons found infected with the new UK variant genome is 116," the Health Ministry said on Saturday (January 16).

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New Delhi: The total number of persons infected with the UK strain of COVID-19 has reached 116 in the country, the Union Health Ministry said on Saturday (January 16).

“The total number of persons found infected with the new UK variant genome is 116," the Health Ministry was quoted as saying by PTI.

Two new cases have been found positive with the COVID-19 UK strain in the last 24 hours, thus taking the total number of cases to 116 on Saturday. As per the Ministry data, on Friday, the tally had risen to 114, with five new positive cases.

The government had earlier informed that all the COVID-19 positive cases with the new UK strain are recovering in single-room isolation in designated healthcare facilities. Their close contacts have also been quarantined, while contact tracing has been initiated for co-travellers, family contacts, etc., the health ministry said.

Meanwhile, India kicked off the largest COVID-19 immunization drive on Saturday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the first phase of the pan-India vaccination drive via video conferencing. The government plans to vaccinate 1 crore healthcare workers and 2 crore frontline workers during this phase. Around 1.5 lakh workers in 700 districts have been trained to administer the COVID-19 vaccine shot and maintain records.

India’s total coronavirus cases crossed 1.05 crore cases today with 15,158 new infections, while over 1.5 lakh people have lost their lives so far.