Five detected with South African, Brazil coronavirus strains: Govt

Govt concerned over rise in cases in Maharashtra

The South African Covid-19 strain has been detected in four Indian returnees and the Brazil variant in one, the health ministry said on Tuesday, amid concerns over the rise in the number of cases in Maharashtra. 

The Union health ministry is holding discussions with the civil aviation ministry to put in place a mechanism to monitor air traffic from South Africa and Brazil and contain the spread of these variants. 

“Our experience with the UK variant taught us that testing after disembarkation and then genome sequencing positive samples was very effective. We will deploy a similar strategy for South Africa and Brazil