India has found six people who returned from Britain in recent weeks infected with a more infectious strain of the coronavirus that has prompted a wave of panic and border closures around the world, Reuters reported.

All six patients have been kept in isolation, the health ministry said in a statement, adding that their fellow travellers were being tracked down.

“Their close contacts have also been put under quarantine,” the ministry said.

India has suspended all flights from Britain until the end of the month but about 33,000 passengers had flown in from late November, before the ban came into place, the ministry said.

Indians wearing face masks as a precaution against the coronavirus line up outside a bank in Ahmedabad on Dec 28. — AP
Indians wearing face masks as a precaution against the coronavirus line up outside a bank in Ahmedabad on Dec 28. — AP

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