Covid-19 new strains detected in 8 people in West Bengal
- The eight affected are between 25 and 44 years of age
- Out of them, five have been found to be infected by the UK-strain, while the rest with the South African strain
As many as eight people in West Bengal have been infected with the new strains of coronavirus, a senior official of the state health department has said.
Out of them, five have been found to be infected by the UK-strain, while the rest with the South African strain, according to a PTI report.
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This comes as a new double mutant strain of SARS CoV2 virus has been detected in India, in addition to other UK, South African and Brazilian variants of the virus already circulating in 18 states of the country.
"Those who have been found infected by the new strains had tested positive for COVID-19 between March 7 and March 13. Later when they started showing different symptoms, their swab samples were sent to Kalyani testing centre where the strains were proved," the official said.
The eight affected are between 25 and 44 years of age, the official added.
The Bengal health department have spotted seven of them - three in the city, two in Nadia district one each in Howrah and Basirhat. One person is from Jamshedpur, the official said.
"We could not locate the person who is from Jamshedpur. We are in touch with the other infected persons and are monitoring their health conditions," the official said.
All the infected ones will be brought to the city-based Beliaghata ID hospital where a separate ward has been set up for their treatment.
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Meanwhile, the Covid-19 caseload of West Bengal went up to 5,81,865 on Wednesday after 462 more people tested positive for the virus, the health department said.
Two more Covid-19 fatalities took the death toll in the state to 10,312, a bulletin released by the department said. The deaths -- one from Kolkata and the other from Purba Bardhaman district-- were due to comorbidities where Covid-19 was incidental.
The new infections included 156 from Kolkata and 104 from North 24 Parganas district.
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