West Bengal reports its 1st case of new UK variant of COVID-19 strain

Dec. 30: In what seems to be a cause of concern, West Bengal reported its first case of the new United Kingdom (UK) mutant coronavirus strain. The patient tested positive for the mutant strain VUI-202012/01 after returning from London. The new strain of the coronavirus was detected during his genetic analysis.

Twenty cases of the mutant coronavirus strain have so far been so far been reported from across India of which eight were detected in Delhi and seven in Bengaluru.

The mutant strain VUI-202012/01 (the first Variant Under Investigation in December 2020) is defined by a set of 17 changes or mutations.