400 infected with UK, South African, Brazil Covid-19 mutant in India

New Delhi: As many as 400 people have so far been found infected with three new variants of COVID-19, from the UK, South Africa and Brazil, said the Health Ministry on Thursday amid a sudden spike in coronavirus cases in several parts of the country. Among the 400 cases, 158 cases were reported in the last two weeks. Earlier on Tuesday, New Delhi confirmed its first case of the South African variant of the novel coronavirus. Also Read - Tamil Nadu Reports Nearly 1000 new COVID-19 Cases, Eight Deaths in Last 24 Hours

On whether the people who have been infected once could get re-infected by the new virus strain, Choubey said as per World Health Organization (WHO), in the three countries where the pandemic is being driven by the variant mutants of SARS-CoV-2 virus, namely United Kingdom, South Africa and Brazil, the South African and Brazilian variants have the potential to reinfect persons who have been previously infected with SARS-CoV-2. Also Read - First Case of South African COVID-19 Variant Reported in Karnataka

Recognizing that the mutant variants of SARS-CoV-2 are driving the pandemic in countries of their origin, namely United Kingdom, South Africa and Brazil, Government of India has revised its guidelines for international travel to minimize the risk of importation and further spread of these mutant variants in India, he said.