New COVID variant: 181 passengers return to Odisha from UK; 62 untraceable

Bhubaneswar: As many as 181 passengers have returned to Odisha from the United Kingdom (UK) in the past 22 days, of which 62 have reportedly gone untraceable, informed the Directorate of Public Health today.

Amid scare of new mutant strain of Coronavirus, the non traceability of 62 UK returnees could pose a biggest threat to the Government in battle against COVID-19.

According to Dr Niranjan Mishra, Director of Public Health, Odisha, total 181 passengers have returned to the State from the UK between November 30 and December 21, of which the Government has details about 119 passengers and remaining 62 returnees are untraceable.

Of total passengers returned to the State in the past 22 days, 119 have undergone COVID-19 test in phases and six of them (3 each from Bhubaneswar and Jagatsinghpur) were found positive for the Coronavirus.

However, the whereabouts of remaining 62 persons are still untraceable.

“The 62 returnees have either provided false information in declaration forms for which it is difficult to reach them at their addresses and given phone numbers. It has created a concern for the Government in a large manner,” Dr Mishra said today.

However, the efforts are underway to trace them to conduct their genome sequencing for the new virus strain if they are infected with the Coronavirus, he said.