136 hotel staff test +ve, Health Secretary says no need to panic

So far, as many as 2,991 employees of about 20 star hotels and 5,732 employees of other hotels have been tested in the city. The authorities have received results of around 5,000 samples and 136 of them have been tested positive.

Commenting on more UK returnees testing positive for the mutant variant of coronavirus, Radhakrishnan said the treatment procedures were the same as the one being followed now. Separate treatment protocol has not been devised, as there was no difference in clinical manifestation of the mutant strain, he said.

“Though we have kept these patients in a separate wing at the King Institute in Guindy, the protocol is the same. The Union Health Ministry or the World Health Organisation has not given any new protocol for their treatment,” he added.

The samples of 24 UK returnees and 20 contacts who have tested COVID positive were sent to the National Institute of Virology, Pune, and National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bengaluru. Of them, four tested positive for the new variant while eight were negative. The result of the remaining 32 were awaited, he said.