UK Covid-19 Variant: Health Ministry Issues SOP For Epidemiological Surveillance

New Delhi/Bhubaneswar: Concerned over a new strain of coronavirus in the United Kingdom (UK) that is feared to be more contagious, the Union Health Ministry has issued Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for epidemiological surveillance and response.

• The passengers will receive daily calls and visit from the State health officials. The health officials will inquire about the travellers' health status.
• The travellers should self-monitor themselves for tracking the symptoms of COVID-19, i.e. cough, fever, difficulty in breathing for 28 days from the date of arrival from UK.
• If any travellers develop any of the symptoms, they need to put on a mask immediately, isolate themselves at home and inform the District Surveillance Officer. They can also contact the National Helpline Number or State Helpline Number.
• The District Surveillance Officer will ensure daily follow up of the travellers under observation for 28 days starting from the date of arrival.

The Government of United Kingdom reported a new variant of SARS-CoV 2 virus to the World Health Organization (WHO). The variant is more transmissible and affecting younger population at large, as reported by the European Center for Disease Control (ECDC). The new variant of COVID is defined by a set of 17 mutations or changes.

One of the most significant variant is N501Y in the spike protein that the virus uses to bind the human ACE2 receptor. Changes in this part of the spike protein may result in the virus becoming more infections and transmitting more easily from one person to another.

Earlier today, the Union Health Ministry called an emergency meeting of its top advisors to discuss the emergence of a mutated variant of the novel Coronavirus in the UK. Later, the Ministry released an SOP descrining the activities to be undertaken at the point of entry and in the community for all the international passengers who travelled from or transited through UK in the past 4 weeks, i..e. from November 25- December 23.

Actions To Be Taken At The International Airports

• The international travellers need to declare their travel history and fill up the self-declaration form to be screened for COVID-19.
• Following the suspension of all flights from the UK to India, the passengers arriving in India during December 21-23 are instructed to abide to the guidelines.
• State governments need to ensure that all passengers travelling from or transiting through the airports in the UK to India should be subjected to RT-PCR test upon arrival.
• In case of positive sample, it is recommended to conduct spike gene-based RT-PCR test at an certified laboratory.
  The passengers testing positive should be isolated in an institutional facility coordinated y the respective health authorities where they would earmark the facilities for isolation and treatment.
• Those found negative with RT-PCR testing at the airport are advised to remain quarantined at home.
• The concerned airlines are also instructed to explain the travellers about the SOP prior to check-in.
• The contacts of those travellers who arrived at various airports on December 21-23 and tested positive would be subjected to institutional quarantine and would be tested as per the ICMR guidelines.
• The list of travellers who tested negative at the airport shall be shared with respective states and would be advised to quarantine at home and later would be tested as per ICMR guidelines.

Union Health Ministry issues Standard Operating Procedure for epidemiological surveillance and response in the context of new variant of SARS-CoV-2 virus detected in the United Kingdom.#Covid19UK #Covid19 pic.twitter.com/SHzF1Ba26s

— OTV (@otvnews) December 22, 2020