Punjab Government on Tuesday issued the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for Epidemiological Surveillance and Response in the context of new variant SARS-CoV-2 virus detected in the United Kingdom.
“Instructions have been issued to all Deputy Commissioners and Civil Surgeons regarding surveillance and testing of passengers travelling from or transiting through United Kingdom,” said the state Health and Family Welfare Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu.
Sidhu said that 262 travelers, who arrived from UK on December 21 to 23, 2020, were kept under observation at airport at a separate area after taking their samples for RT-PCR testing. Eight of them turned out to be positive and have been isolated as per SOPs, he said.
“A new variant of SARS-CoV-2 virus [Variant Under Investigation (VUI)-20212/01] has been reported by the Government of United Kingdom (UK) to the World Health Organization (WHO). This variant is estimated by European Center for Disease Control (ECDC) to be more transmissible and affecting younger population. This variant is defined by a set of 17 changes or mutations,” pointed the Minister.
He added that one of the most significant is an N 501Y mutation in the spike of protein that the virus uses to blind to the human ACE2 receptor. Changes in this part of the spike protein may result in the virus becoming more infectious and spreading more easily between people, he added.
Divulging about Standard Operating Procedure (SOP), the Minister said that it describes the activities to be undertaken at the point of entry and in the community for all International passengers who have travelled from or transited through the UK in the past four weeks (from November 25 to December 23, 2020). Any reference to testing in this SOP implies RT-PCR testing only, he added.