The government has said the South African and Brazilian strains can more easily infect a person’s lungs than the UK mutation. India has so far reported 187 cases of infection with the UK variant. The government late on Wednesday said airlines would be required from next week to segregate inbound travellers from those countries. India does not have direct flights with Brazil and South Africa, and most people travelling from these countries generally transit through Middle Eastern airports. The country has also administered 9.2 million vaccine doses since starting its campaign on Jan. 16.

Source: Standard Digital February 18, 2021 05:48 UTC