CHANDIGARH: The Punjab government on Tuesday issued the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for epidemiological surveillance and response in the context of new variant SARS-CoV-2 virus detected in United Kingdom.
Giving details Punjab Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu said that instructions have been issued to all Deputy Commissioners and Civil Surgeons regarding surveillance and testing of passengers travelling from or transiting through United Kingdom.
He said that 262 travellers, who arrived from UK on 21-23 December 2020, were kept under observation at the airport at a separate area after taking their samples for RTPCR testing. Eight of them turned out to be positive and have been isolated as per SOPs.
Sidhu divulged that a new variant of SARS- COV 2 virus has been reported by the UK government to World Health Organization (WHO). This variant is estimated by European Centre for Disease Control (ECDC) to be more transmissible and affecting younger population.
Divulging about the SOP, Sidhu said that it describes the activities to be undertaken at the point of entry and in the community for all international passengers who have travelled from or transited through the UK in the past four weeks (from 25 November to 23 December 2020). Any reference to testing in this SOP implies RT-PCR testing only.