279 UK-returned passengers in Telangana untraceable, 184 submit incorrect contact details

Telangana health officials are unable to trace as many as 279 passengers who recently returned from the UK, where the new coronavirus mutant has been detected. Of the total 279 flyers, 92 untraceable passengers are from Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, and Kerala. Additionally, the state police said that 184 UK returnees who came back to Telangana, had given incorrect numbers and addresses to the officials.

According to Director of Public Health G Srinivasa Rao, the Telangana government is following a policy of 'tracing, testing, and treating' to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the wake of a new variant of coronavirus.

He said 1,216 people have arrived in Telangana from the UK since December 9 and a total of 937 have been identified and tested for Covid-19 and that two persons were found positive on Saturday.

The samples of those who tested positive have been sent to the Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) here for genome sequencing.

The official appealed to people with a travel history to the UK to report to the health department so that tests can be conducted at their home. Hyderabad had four direct flights and seven connecting flights to the UK.

Meanwhile, Karnataka Health Minister K Sudhakar also informed 14 people who came from the UK have tested positive for COVID-19. In Andhra Pradesh,  six out of 1,214 people, who returned from the UK, tested positive for coronavirus. In Kerala, eight of those returning from the UK tested positive for COVID-19.

All international passenger flights connecting the UK have been suspended from Wednesday till December 31 or till further orders in the wake of the emergence of a mutated strain of the virus there.

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