No need to panic, says health minister on new coronavirus strain in UK

Union Health Minister of India Harsh Vardhan said on Monday that the central government is on alert about the new coronavirus strain in the United Kingdom. The Health Minister also said that there was no need to panic on the discovery of the news strain.

Addressing a virtual press conference, Harsh Vardhan said, “The central government is alert. In the past year, as you all have seen, we took all the necessary measures to ensure the safety of people. We are aware of what all needs to be done. If you ask me, there’s no reason to panic.”

As more countries barred travel from the UK, with others considering similar action in a bid to block a new strain of coronavirus sweeping across southern England, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal sounded a warning note against it and urged the Centre to suspend all travel from the country.

Meanwhile India’s COVID-19 caseload rose to 1,00,55,560 with 24,337 new infections being reported on Mondya. The number of people who have recovered from the disease crossed 96 lakh, according to Union Health Ministry data updated on Monday.

The death toll increased to 1,45,810 with 333 new fatalities. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 96,06,111 pushing the national recovery rate to 95.53 percent, while the case fatality rate stands at 1.45 percent.

The COVID-19 active caseload remained below 4 lakh for the 15th consecutive day. There are 3,03,639 active coronavirus cases in the country which comprise 3.02 percent of the total caseload, the data stated.