Six fliers who had arrived from Dubai between March 9 and 13 and tested positive for Covid-19 have been admitted to ID Hospital in Beleghata after they were found to be carrying the UK and South African strains of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Two fliers with the UK strain were earlier admitted to the Beleghata hospital.

The six were admitted between Tuesday night and Wednesday afternoon after their results reached the health department. All of them had been sent home and asked to stay in isolation after testing positive.

“Among the six patients who have been admitted over the past 24 hours, one is a carrier of the South African strain. The rest have tested positive for the UK strain,” said a doctor at the Beleghata hospital. “While most of them are asymptomatic, a few have complained of pain in the throat and are running a mild fever.”

“Those admitted are mostly from Nadia and South 24-Parganas and are between 25 and 46. A majority of them are labourers,” said a senior official of the hospital.

Another seven fliers who had arrived from Dubai after March 13 tested positive for Covid-19 and their samples have been sent to the National Institute of Biomedical Genomics in Kalyani for confirming whether they are infected with any mutant.