Indian variant of coronavirus reaches Pakistan

Tests reveal four more cases of the Indian variant in Pakistan. Taking the total number of cases to five.

All four people had returned from the Gulf and tested positive upon arrival at the Karachi airport.

“Three of them had come from Iraq. Meanwhile, another arrived from Muscat,” Jatoi said, adding that three belong to Karachi and one is from Ghotki.

Also, they are testing their family members.

A day earlier, the National Institute of Health said that a passenger with an Indian variant of coronavirus reached Pakistan on May 8.

The NIH in a statement has issued the details of a case of an Indian coronavirus strain diagnosed in Pakistan.

The passenger underwent a rapid coronavirus test at a Pakistan airport. And the Indian variant of the virus confirmed in him in the diagnosis, NIH stated.

“Covid-19 testing of the infected person at the quarantine center confirmed the Indian variant. The passenger also had minor symptoms,” the NIH said in its statement.

“The passenger was discharged from the quarantine facility and allowed to go home after his recovery from the disease,” the National Institute of Health said.

The NIH on Friday confirmed the first case of the more contagious Covid-19 variant first discovered in India.

Also, read about Pakistan’s vaccine.

Also, said that Indian strain was found in samples the NIH received for testing. Moreover, the department also confirmed seven cases of South African Covid-19 variant detected in Pakistan in the ongoing month.

The Indian variant

Viruses mutate all the time, producing different versions or variants of themselves.

Most of these mutations are insignificant – and some may even make the virus less dangerous – but others can make it more contagious and harder to vaccinate against.

This variant – officially known as B.1.617 – was first detected in India in October.