Bhubaneswar, Dec 23 (IANS): A 34-year-old man returning from the UK has been shifted to a hospital after testing positive for Covid-19 here, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) said on Wednesday. The person was in isolation after his return from the UK on December 18.

"A 34-year-old male reached Bhubaneswar from the UK on December 18 and tested positive for Civid-19 at a private lab. He was shifted to a government sponsored Covid hospital immediately. He has mild flu-like symptoms," the BMC said in a tweet.

Genome sequencing of the sample is being done to ascertain the Covid strain, while contact tracing has already been completed as per the government guidelines, the BMC said.

The Odisha government has made 14-day home quarantine mandatory for persons with travel history from the UK upon arrival at the airports of the state.

The state government took the decision as the mutant variant of SARS-CoV-2 virus has been spreading fast in the UK.

The state government has directed the authorities to enforce the SOPs issued by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in view of the mutant variant of coronavirus detected in the UK.

The health department asked to mandatorily screen the persons with travel history from the UK and take necessary follow-up measures to prevent the spread of the new variant of SARS-CoV-2 in the state.