PATNA: Samples of four foreigners who tested positive for Covid-19 at the Buddhist pilgrimage town of Gaya were sent for genome sequencing on Sunday, a senior medical officer of the district said on Monday.
The official said another person, a 60-year-old woman from the United Kingdom, also tested positive last week before the central government formally asked states to step up analysis of positive Covid-19 cases to detect new coronavirus variants amid a spiralling wave in China. She has returned to her country, Gaya civil surgeon Dr Ranjan Kumar Singh said.
Three of the four foreigners who tested positive on Sunday are from Thailand, the fourth is from Myanmar.
Dr Singh said the five were asymptomatic and were randomly tested at the Gaya international airport last week.
“We have isolated two foreigners (from Thailand) at their hotel rooms at Bodh Gaya,” the medical officer said. The administration has not been able to track down the third person from Thailand since the person’s mobile phone number was switched off.
The Myanmar national left Gaya for Srinagar via Delhi before the test results came in. Dr Singh said the airport officials were informed about his Covid-19 status as soon as the confirmatory test results came in.
The district administration said after a Thai national tested positive on December 23, about 27 others part of the same travel group were also tested. Two more people tested positive as part of the contact tracing exercise that was carried out.
The detection of Covid-19 cases come ahead of a religious discourse by Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama scheduled for December 29-31 which is likely to be attended by about 100,000 devotees. People familiar with the matter said about 20,000 devotees from 50 countries have registered online for the discourse at the town’s Kalachakra Maidan.
Gaya district magistrate Thiyagarajan SM has appealed to people to wear mask, and follow Covid appropriate behaviour, including social distancing. He has also asked the organisers to ensure that only those who test negative should be allowed to meet the Dalai Lama.
