Coronavirus: Alarm in Punjab over UK COVID-19 variant; CM asks people to follow guidelines

23-03-2021

There is an alarm in Punjab over the coronavirus situation after it was found that a majority of the latest COVID-19 samples sent for genome sequencing were of UK variant. Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh has expressed concern over the development, as the UK COVID-19 variant is affecting more young people. According to Raveen Thukral, media advisor to the Punjab CM, Captain Singh has now urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to expand COVID-19 vaccination coverage to people under the age of 60. It has been learned that the Punjab government had sent 401 samples for genome sequencing. Out of these, 81 per cent were found to be of the UK COVID-19 variant. The Punjab CM has stressed that there is an urgent need for the Central government to open up the vaccination drive for a bigger section of the populace, especially younger people. He has also called on the eligible people to get themselves vaccinated and appealed to everyone in the state to strictly adhere to COVID-19 safety protocol. Amarinder noted that the process to include a wider populace under the vaccination programme needs to be expedited as experts have said that the existing Covishield vaccine is equally effective against the UK variant, called B.1.1.7. “It is essential to vaccinate more and more people to break the chain of transmission,” he said. Warning against laxity by the people, the CM said his government has already announced fresh restrictions and would be forced to impose more curbs if the people do not follow COVID-19 appropriate behaviour. It may be noted that Punjab has been witnessing a surge in COVID-19 cases over the last few weeks. A release issued by the Punjab government pointed out: “It is noteworthy that the B.1.1.7 variant is now spreading rapidly in many parts of the world, representing 98% of the new cases in the UK and 90% in Spain. UK authorities have suggested it is up to 70% more transmissible than the original virus.”