BENGALURU/CHENNAI: Even as the number of patients testing positive for the mutant variant of SARS-CoV-2, which originated in Britain, rose to 25 in India on Thursday as per official sources, several state governments intensified their drive to trace the missing UK returnees who landed in India in the last one month or so.
While Karnataka is yet to find 175 passengers, including 80 foreigners, the Tamil Nadu government has so far been unable to trace about 360 UK returnees, all of them from Chennai and Chengalpattu.
Approximately 2,300 travellers returned from the UK in TN since November 21 and the government has traced 1,936 of them, all of whom have undergone RT-PCR tests. While 24 tested positive and 1,853 tested negative, the results of 59 are awaited. There is difficulty in tracing passengers as they have provided wrong addresses, state health secretary J Radhakrishnan told reporters in Chennai.
Karnataka health minister K Sudhakar said: "Of the 175 missing, 80 are not Indian citizens. This means we do not have their contact details. But the home department is pursuing the matter."