New Delhi, Jan 5 (IANS): The number of Covid patients carrying the UK strain in the national capital has reached seven after three new cases were detected on Monday, whereas the tally of suspected carriers has reached 49, officials told IANS.

Dr Suresh Kumar, Medical Director of Lok Nayak Jai Prakash (LNJP) Hospital informed that the three new cases were detected from a laboratory in Delhi.

"The total number of patients suspected of being infected by the UK strain has reached 49. Of them, the strain is confirmed in the seven persons. Three new detections were reported from the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB) in Delhi," he said.

Kumar also informed that of the total 49, seventeen are travelers while the remaining are their contacts. "Fifteen are those who came directly from Dubai while two other transited via Dubai to India," he said.

He also said that the health of all the seven confirmed patients are in stable condition. "Most of them are asymptomatic and mild in nature of the Covid. None of them have shown severe complications so far," Kumar added.

The seven patients who are positive for the UK mutation are lodged in separate rooms of a special ward. The ward has been earmarked for those who landed here from the UK. With a capacity of 60 rooms, the ward is spread across three floors with 20 rooms on each floor.

"We are ensuring that these patients don't mingle with the other Covid patients. All of them have been isolated separately in different rooms of a special ward designated for the patients suspected or found infected with the new variant," Dr Kumar told IANS.

Meanwhile, nine more Covid-19 patients have been detected carrying the new and highly infectious strain of novel coronavirus from the UK on Monday, taking the tally of cases to 38 in the country.