Chandigarh, Dec 30 (IANS): To check the mutation of new mutated coronavirus strain, the Punjab government has decided to send five per cent positive samples per week to the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology in Delhi, an official said on Wednesday.

State Principal Secretary, Medical Education and Research, D.K. Tiwari said that it was part of the master plan conceived by the state government to contain the spread of new virus.

He said after the emergence of new mutated strain (N501Y) SARS-CoV-2 virus with high transmissibility, an advisory was issued by the Centre that the new strain could also be circulating in India too and Punjab has sent random positive samples to check the emergence of new mutated virus strain to the National Institute of Virology in Pune.

He said the samples were selected from September to December, apart from all passengers who came from the UK were screened for Covid-19.

With eight patients testing positive for Covid-19 in Amritsar and one in Patiala, Tiwari said samples of these nine have been sent to Pune for sequencing to check new mutated virus strain.

From March till date, 25.74 lakh tests were conducted in the state and 78,666 were found Covid-19 positive.