India on Thursday called for rigorous screening and testing of fliers coming from South Africa, Hong Kong and Botswana where a new variant of COVID-19 has been found with multiple mutations that have led to a surge in infections.In a letter to states and union territories, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan asked them to ensure that samples of travellers turning positive are sent to designated genome sequencing laboratories promptly. The contacts of these international travellers must also be closely tracked and tested as per Health Ministry guidelines, he said.Bhushan also instructed the additional chief secretaries, principal secretaries and health secretaries of all states and UTs to ensure that samples of travellers turning positive for the new variant are sent to the designated INSACOG Genome Sequencing labs.
