New Covid strain: India reports 6 cases of new coronavirus variant in UK arrivals

New Delhi - All six patients have been kept in isolation, health ministry said.

India has found six people who returned from Britain in recent weeks infected with a more infectious strain of the coronavirus that has prompted a wave of panic and border closures around the world.

All six patients have been kept in isolation, the health ministry said in a statement on Tuesday, adding that their fellow travellers were being tracked down.

“Their close contacts have also been put under quarantine,” the ministry said.

India has suspended all flights from Britain until the end of the month but about 33,000 passengers had flown in from late November, before the ban came into place, the ministry said.