COVID-19: 'New strain more infectious, has early symptoms, same treatment,' say Doctors

Incoming passengers being checked at the airport on Tuesday. Pics/Sameer Markande

The BMC said it has not yet received any information about cases with the new strain of the novel Coronavirus found in England. But if any are found among international passengers arriving in the city, the treatment will be the same, said members of the COVID Task Force. To identify the variant, the samples of those testing positive will be sent for genome sequencing to Kasturba Hospital, they added.

Passengers give their details to police officers upon arriving at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport on Tuesday night

Passengers from Europe and Central Asia who are being sent for institutional quarantine will be tested on the fifth day of arrival in the city using RT-PCR technique. Thereafter, the samples of positive patients will be sent for genome sequencing to check for the presence of the new coronavirus variant.

"The positive samples will be sent for genome sequencing in Kasturba Hospital where we will know if the new strain is present. Until now the BMC hasn't received any information about cases with new strain," said Suresh Kakani, additional municipal commissioner. Kakani added that for now, tests and treatment will continue in its current form.

Symptoms in 3 days

"Currently, an infected person exhibits symptoms in around five to seven days, but with the new strain, symptoms develop within three days. Even today, there is no confirmed treatment for COVID-19, so we treat the symptoms. The same will be done for the new strain," said Dr Rahul Pandit, a member of COVID Task Force.

Dr Om Shrivastava, another member of the task force, told mid-day, "As of now, we don't know much about the new strain, except that it is more transmissible and more contagious. There are few labs that conduct genome sequencing and the BMC or the state may ask them for further study. The line of treatment will depend on the study."

As of Wednesday morning, 1,688 passengers have arrived at Mumbai international airport, and 745 of them have been quarantined in Mumbai, while 602 were flown to other states by connecting flights. There were 339 passengers from the rest of the world.