Bhubaneswar: The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) Wednesday identified a man who recently returned from the United Kingdom to the Odisha capital, amid concerns over the detection of a mutated strain of COVID-19 in the European country.
The person had returned from the UK to the coastal state on December 17, BMC commissioner P C Chaudhury said.
“Though the man has not yet tested positive for COVID-19, he has been admitted to a hospital here and his family will also have to undergo tests for detection of coronavirus,” Chaudhury said.
Additional Chief Secretary P K Mohapatra in a letter to officials concerned had directed that passengers with travel history to the UK be advised to be in mandatory home quarantine for 14 days with self monitoring and periodic monitoring by the Rapid Response Team.
Meanwhile, the BMC and health department have jointly started contact tracing of the man, the BMC commissioner said.
“There is nothing to panic. It is just a precautionary measure due to detection of the mutated strain of the virus in the UK,” Chaudhury said.
The authorities of Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIAP) here have asked all airline operators to share details about passengers, who have recently returned from foreign countries, airport executive director Goutam Ray told PTI.
Passengers with travel history to the UK will have to undergo screening at a special kiosk set up by the BMC at the airport terminal.
“We have made RT-PCR COVID-19 test mandatory for passengers of 55 years and above with co-morbidities,” Ray said.
The state government Tuesday had asked authorities concerned to undertake mandatory screening of persons with travel history to the UK after the faster spreading new COVID-19 strain was reported in that country.
They were also told to take necessary follow up action for prevention of the spread of the new variant of coronavirus in the state.
The Centre said Monday that all UK-India flights will be suspended from December 23 to December 31 in view of the emergence of a new coronavirus strain in that country.
PTI