India's health ministry said on Tuesday that 20 new cases of the mutant COVID-19 strain have been traced in the country, taking the tally of such cases to 58.
According to ministry, the new cases have been identified at the National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune.
"The total number of cases infected with the new strain of the novel coronavirus first reported in Britain now stands at 58 with 20 new cases that have been identified at NIV Pune," the ministry said in a statement.
The fresh cases have taken the number of mutant COVID-19 strain cases at Pune to 25.
As per the health ministry, 19 patients have been found in New Delhi followed by Bengaluru where 10 patients were detected. In Hyderabad, three cases were traced. One patient has been detected in Kolkata.
The positive samples are being tested at 10 Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium (INSACOG) labs across the country.
According to officials, all these patients have been kept in single room isolation in designated health care facilities by respective local governments.
"Their close contacts have also been put under quarantine. Comprehensive contact tracing has been initiated for co-travellers, family contacts and others," the ministry said. "Genome sequencing on other specimens is going on."
The new variant of the virus detected in Britain has triggered widespread concern and travel restrictions across the world.
The Indian government last week temporarily suspended flight services from Britain in wake of the new strain of COVID-19 found there. Authorities ordered surveillance of all passengers who travelled from or transited through Britain in the last four weeks prior to the flight ban.
Meanwhile, flights from India to Britain will resume on Wednesday and operations from Britain to India will begin on Friday.
