A 47-year-old woman, who returned to Rajamahendravaram in Andhra Pradesh on December 23, was found to have contracted the new mutated variant of coronavirus but the state health department maintained that there was no spread of the fresh variant in the state beyond that. The woman was in the news earlier, as she had travelled with her 22-year-old son in a train to Rajahmundry from New Delhi. She was later traced and placed in quarantine at the East Godavari district COVID-19 hospital. Her son tested negative for the coronavirus.

In a statement issued by the Andhra Pradesh’s Commissioner of Health and Family Welfare Department, state Health Commissioner Katamaneni Bhaskar said, “There is no evidence of expansion of UK variant in Andhra. A woman belonging to Rajahmundry tested positive for UK variant. However there is no spread of the same in Andhra from her. Her son who travelled with her tested negative.”

The official note further said that there were 1,423 people who came to the Andhra Pradesh state from the UK in recent days and of them 1,406 of them have been traced and 17 persons are yet to be traced. Of the traced people, 12 people tested positive for the coronavirus, of which only the woman had the new variant, the state Health Commissioner added, citing a report of the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) in Hyderabad.

"Her son tested negative while another person who came in contact with her also did not contract any virus," Bhaskar further said in the release. “We are constantly monitoring the situation and there is no need to panic. I appeal to people not to believe in rumours,” the Commissioner added.

Meanwhile, 6,364 primary contacts of the 1,406 persons were also tested, of which 12 were found COVID-19 positive. “Total 24 samples of these positive patients were sent to CCMB and CCMB declared that a UK variant was found in the sample of a woman belonging to Rajahmundry. Remaining 23 sample reports are yet to be received from CCMB,” Bhaskar added.

(With PTI inputs)