The Union Health Ministry has informed that four new cases of the highly contagious mutant strain of the coronavirus were detected in India on Friday.

With the new cases, the total of those who are affected by the strain has reached 29.

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As reported by NDTV, out of the four cases, three were found in Bengaluru, while one was detected in Hyderabad.

As of now, 10 cases have been detected by labs in Delhi, 10 by a Bengaluru lab, one in West Bengal, three in Hyderabad and five by the National Institute of Virology, Pune.

All 29 patients have been kept in isolation at designated health facilities.

The doctors have said that there is no evidence that the new strain leads to more fatalities or that it cannot be controlled by existing vaccines but its contagious nature puts more people at risk, especially the vulnerable sections of the population.

The government has said that the situation is ‘under careful watch.’

The samples of the new strain of Covid-19 are currently being tested at the labs of INSACOG. The government plans to carry out the genome sequencing at 10 laboratories across the country eventually. The labs include NIBMG Kolkata, ILS Bhubaneswar, NIV Pune, CCS Pune, CCMB Hyderabad, CDFD Hyderabad, InSTEM Bengaluru, NIMHANS Bengaluru, IGIB Delhi, and NCDC Delhi.

A government-appointed panel of experts on Covid will take up the applications filed by the Serum Institute of India, Bharat Biotech and Pfizer for the emergency use approval for the coronavirus vaccines today.

Serum Institute had made presentations before the panel on Wednesday regarding the vaccine ‘Covishield’ developed by Oxford University and pharma major AstraZeneca and Bharat Biotech which has partnered the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) for its ‘Covaxin’.

Once the vaccines are cleared by the expert panel, the applications will move to the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) for final approval.

With the objective of gearing up for the roll-out of COVID19 vaccine across the country, the Central Government has asked all States and UTs to ensure effective preparedness for the vaccine roll-out.

The dry run will be conducted by all the State and UT governments on 2nd January 2021 (Saturday). The activity is proposed to be conducted in all State Capitals in at least 3 session sites; some States will also include districts that are situated in difficult terrain/have poor logistical support; Maharashtra and Kerala are likely to schedule the dry run in major cities other than their Capital.