Examining eight samples for new COVID-19 variant, says national health ministry

ISLAMABAD: A spokesman for the National Ministry for Health on Tuesday said that they were examining eight samples for a new COVID-19 variant, which is believed to have emerged from Britain, ARY NEWS reported.

According to the spokesman, National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC) and the national health ministry are taking strict measures against the new variant of the COVID-19 and will further disseminate information in this regard among masses.

We are examining the presence of new COVID-19 variant in the passengers who had travelled from Britain and will need some time to examine these samples,” he said adding that five samples are being tested at the National Institute of Health (NIH) Islamabad and three at Agha Khan Laboratory in Karachi.

“There is no evidence of a strong presence of the COVID-19 variant,” he said adding that they have taken important measures to tackle it including restrictions being imposed on flights coming from Britain.

We have issued a protocol for passengers travelling from Britain and only those carrying COVID-negative reports could travel to Pakistan from the UK, the spokesman said adding that the travelers further had to remain in quarantine for another seven days.

He said that this protocol will remain implemented in the country till January 04, 2020.

It is pertinent to mention here that a new strain of coronavirus linked to a rapid rise in infections in Britain has been detected in three UK returnees, the Sindh Health Department confirmed earlier in the day.

In a Twitter post, the department said: “Samples of 3 UK returnees show a 95% match to the new Corona Virus variant from UK in the first phase of Genotyping.”

Health officials said they took samples of twelve people upon their return from the UK for genotyping, out of which six turned out to be positive while three showed the new strain of the virus in the first phase.

“The Genotyping showed 95% match of the new variant from the UK,” they said, adding these samples will go through another phase of genotyping.