Mutant U.K. virus: Five more test positive after genome sequencing, 25 cases so far in India, says Health Ministry

Data released by the Ministry said that the active COVID-19 cases in the country has now declined to 2.57 lakh

India has reported five new cases of the mutant variant of SARS-CoV-2 virus — four found by NIV, Pune, and one was sequenced in IGIB, Delhi — taking the total number of these cases to 25 on Thursday as per information released by the Health Ministry.

It added that a consortium of 10 government laboratories had so far found a total of 25 cases of mutant U.K. virus after genome sequencing.

Data released by the Ministry said that the active COVID-19 cases in the country had now declined to 2.57 lakh. The total positive cases are 2,57,656 and now comprise 2.51% of the total cases.

“With a high number of COVID-19 patients recovering every day and the sustained fall in the mortality rate, India’s steady trend of registering dipping active cases continues. In all, 21,822 new confirmed cases were recorded in the last 24 hours in the country whereas 26,139 new recoveries were registered in the same period. It has led to a net decline of 4,616 cases from the total active caseload,” said the Ministry.

India has also reported 299 COVID-19 fatalities in the past 24 hours with 10 States/Union Territories accounting for 80.60% of these. Maharashtra reported the maximum casualties with 90 new fatalities while Kerala and West Bengal both follow with 28 daily deaths.

The Ministry added that 79.87% of the new cases are from 10 States and UTs with Kerala reporting the highest daily new cases at 6,268. It is followed by Maharashtra with 3,537.

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