A health worker checks the temperature of a passenger at a railway station in Mumbai. File/Reuters

Gulf Today Report

India has found six people who returned from the United Kingdom in recent weeks infected with a more infectious strain of the coronavirus that has prompted a wave of panic and border closures around the world.

All six patients were isolated and their fellow travelers were tracked down. Close contacts of the infected patients were also put under quarantine, said the health ministry in a statement on Tuesday.

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“Their close contacts have also been put under quarantine,” the ministry said.

India has suspended all flights from Britain until the end of the month but about 33,000 passengers had flown in from late November, before the ban came into place, the ministry said.

Of those arrivals, 114 people were found positive for the coronavirus new variant. File photo

India on Tuesday reported 16,432 new cases of the virus overall, taking its total to 10.22 million infections and 148,153 deaths. India is expected to start a vaccination drive for some 300 million people early next month.

Of those arrivals, 114 people were found positive for the coronavirus and their samples were being checked for the new variant, which has been detected across parts of Europe and Asia, the ministry said.

The country has the second-highest case load in the world, behind only the United States. Health authorities expect to start a vaccination drive for some 300 million people early next month.