The number of people who have tested positive for the new virus strain from UK has climbed to 102, the Union Health Ministry said.
Till January 11, the number of people infected with the new virus strain was 96.
On Wednesday, the ministry said, "The total number of persons found to be positive with the new UK variant genome stands at 102 today."
All these people were kept in single-room isolation in designated healthcare facilities by respective state governments. Their close contacts have also been put in quarantine and comprehensive contact tracing has been initiated for co-travellers, family contacts and others.
Genome sequencing on other specimens is going on, the ministry said, adding the situation is under careful watch and regular advice is being provided to the states for enhanced surveillance, containment, testing and dispatch of samples to INSACOG (Indian SARS-CoV-2 Genomics Consortium) labs, the ministry said.
Presence of the new UK variant has already been reported by several countries including Denmark, the Netherlands, Australia, Italy, Sweden, France, Spain, Switzerland, Germany, Canada, Japan, Lebanon and Singapore.
India saw a jump of 15,968 fresh infections in the last 24 hours, nearly 26 per cent higher than yesterday's 12,584. More than 1.01 crore COVID patients have already recovered since the beginning of the pandemic; 2.14 lakh cases are active.