Pakistani health ministry officially confirms first two cases of UK coronavirus variant

Islamabad: Pakistan’s federal ministry of health said on Monday samples of two people who recently returned from the United Kingdom had come out positive for a new coronavirus variant that is believed to be more transmissible.
Last week, the ministry said it was evaluating five samples – two at the National Institute of Health and three at the Aga Khan University hospital in Karachi – to confirm the presence of the new UK coronavirus variant in Pakistan. 
“This is in follow up to preliminary reports of the existence of this variant which have now been confirmed via whole-genome sequencing,” the ministry said, adding that two individuals who had visited the UK had caught the new variant. 
Since the emergence of the new coronavirus strain in the UK last month, the ministry has required all inbound passengers from the UK to be tested for the virus before embarking on their journey to Pakistan and again upon arrival. The new virus variant has been detected in 31 other countries so far. 
Pakistan is among a slew of nations that closed their borders to Britain last month. Others include India, Poland, Spain, Switzerland, Russia, Jordan and Hong Kong, which suspended travel for Britons after Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned that a mutated variant of the virus, up to 70% more transmissible, had been identified in the country. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Oman also closed their borders completely. 
Several other nations have suspended travel from Britain including France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Austria, Ireland, Belgium, Israel and Canada — although scientists said the strain may already be circulating in countries with less advanced detection methods than the United Kingdom. 
Most scientists say the new variant has rapidly become the dominant strain in cases of COVID-19 in parts of southern England, and has been linked to an increase in hospitalization rates, especially in London and in the adjacent county of Kent. 
While it was first seen in Britain in September, by the week of December 9 in London, 62% of COVID-19 cases were due to the new variant, compared to 28% cases three weeks earlier.