New Delhi, January 1: India has reported four more cases of the new coronavirus strain, taking the total number of cases to 29, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said on Friday. Of the 29 cases of the mutant virus, 10 were registered by National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro-Sciences Hospital (NIMHANS) Bengaluru, eight by Delhi-based National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and five by National Institute of Virology (NIV) Pune. No Evidence That New Variant of Coronavirus More Deadly, Says WHO Official.

Three samples were found to be infected by the mutant virus by the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) in Hyderabad. National Institute of Biomedical Genomics (NIBMG) in Kalyani (near Kolkata) and Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB) in Delhi recorded one and two cases respectively. The new variant of coronavirus, which causes COVID-19 infection, is said to be up to 70 per cent more infectious than the original version. Harsh Vardhan on New Coronavirus Strain in UK, Says Govt Alert, No Need to Panic.

New Coronavirus Strain Cases Surge to 29:

About 33,000 passengers disembarked at various Indian airports from the UK between November 25 and December 23, according to the government. The new strain of the coronavirus first emerged in the UK sparking off serious panic in many countries, including India. The new strain, code-named as B.1.1.7, has been widely tracked in the UK in recent times.

Besides India, Denmark, Netherlands, Australia, Italy, Sweden, France, Spain, Switzerland, Germany, Canada, Japan, Lebanon and Singapore have also detected the new coronavirus strain.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 01, 2021 03:54 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).