Bengaluru, Jan 1 (IANS): Karnataka health minister K. Sudhakar on Friday said the home department was yet to track 75 people who returned to the state from England since November 25.

The minister told reporters that of the 75 people 70 are within the limits of Bengaluru civic body, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike and five are from other districts.

"The home department had assured me that all 75 passengers will be tracked by Friday night as they are already in touch with the immigration department to cull data from them. Among 75 patients many are from Karnataka and only a few are foreigners," he said.

In response to a question, the minister claimed that most of these passengers had not furnished their addresses and phone numbers properly, hence, the state government is finding it difficult to track them.

"The home department is already in touch with the immigration department to gather every bit of information about these missing passengers," he said.

According to him, a total of 5068 passengers have returned to the state from England since November 25 to December 31 on Air India and British Airways flights.

"Of these 5068 passengers, 4238 passengers landed in Bengaluru from December 9 to December 31 and among them 810 are from other states. Karnataka health and home departments have taken steps to inform their counterparts in those states," he informed.

The minister added that about 38 people including five who came in contact as primary or secondary contacts with the Covid positive patients have been admitted to government hospitals.

"Their swabs have been sent to the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro-Sciences (Nimhans) for carrying out genome sequencing test. Among these 38 patients, only seven (three are from Bengaluru and four are from Shivamogga) have tested positive for the mutant virus," he said.