Islamabad: Pakistan on Tuesday confirmed its first cases of the new coronavirus variant which was first detected in the United Kingdom.
At least three people who came from the UK have tested positive for the new variant which is reported to be highly infectious. Six passengers from the UK tested positive of which three “showed a 95 per cent match with the new variant” and their reports have been sent for the second phase of genotyping, the Sindh health department said. Meanwhile, the contact tracing of the patients is in process to prevent the spread of the new strain of coronavirus, Sindh Health Department spokesperson Meeran Yousuf said.
The provincial health department has informed Special Assistant to Prime Minister Imran Khan on National Health Services Dr Faisal Sultan about the development.
The new strain of COVID-19 which is significantly more transmissible than the original strain was first reported in the UK and later in other European countries, prompting many countries to suspend flights to and from the UK. Pakistan also upgraded its travel restrictions to and from the UK in view of the fears over the new highly contagious virus strain.