New Delhi, December 24: Amid fears over the new coronavirus strain that has been found in the United Kingdom, the news of five UK returnees, who went untraceable from Delhi airport, has put authorities on alert. Reports inform that as many as five COVID-19 positive passengers fled after arriving at the Delhi airport from the UK on December 22, a report by The Indian Express said. The passengers managed to escape despite standard operating procedures (SOPs) issued by the Union Health Ministry for people travelling from the UK. According to the report, three of the five passengers were traced and admitted to Lok Nayak hospital in Delhi, while two others -- one who managed to reach Andhra Pradesh and another who had reached Ludhiana in Punjab.

According to a report by Moneycontrol, one of the five passengers, a 46-year-old man, managed to leave the Delhi airport unnoticed and reach Ludhiana. He  checked himself into a private hospital and two his wife and nephew were also isolated. The report further informs that all the five passengers had arrived in Delhi from London on board an Air India flight and had tested positive on arrival.

Earlier in the day, a tweet by ANI said that an Anglo-Indian woman, who had reached Delhi from the UK on December 21 and had tested positive for COVID-19, managed to flee from the isolation centre. The woman fled an isolation centre in Delhi and reached Rajahmundry in Andhra Pradesh by a train. The woman has now been traced and placed under isolation in Rajahmundry, officials said on Thursday.

Here's the tweet:

After the news of a new COVID-19 strain in the UK broke out, India is on a high alert and has initiated various measures including rigorous testing of those who had arrived from England recently. According to officials, the woman, however, told the authorities that only home quarantine was recommended for her and as such she left New Delhi on her own as she was asymptomatic.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 24, 2020 04:12 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).