Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan said that the Central Government is ‘alert’ and scientists are closely keeping an eye on each development about the discovery of the new strain of coronavirus in the United Kingdom.
“As of now, there is no need to get involved with these imaginary situations, imaginary panic. The Centre is alert and there is no need to panic about it,” Vardhan said, speaking at the curtain-raiser for the 6th India International Science Festival-2020 (IISF 2020). “The government is fully conscious about everything. If you ask me, there is no reason to panic the way we are seeing in this press conference,” the minister said, adding that the government had done everything important to handle the COVID-19 situation in the last one year.
Shortly before Vardhan’s appeal, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal urged the Centre to immediately ban all flights from the UK over the ‘super-spreader’ mutation.
The new strain of coronavirus, dubbed the ‘B.1.1.7 lineage’ and believed to be far more infectious, has worried countries around the world, many of which, including India, have imposed travel bans on the UK.
We are studying all virus strains and no such mutation has been identified in India so far. We need to be watchful but people should not panic. We just need to continue taking the same precautions and protective measures,” said Samiran Panda, head of epidemiology and communicable diseases division at the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).