File photo: Agencies

NEW DELHI, Dec. 29 (Xinhua) -- As many as six Indian nationals have tested positive with the new variant genome "SARS-CoV-2" virus, the federal health ministry confirmed on Tuesday.

According to an official statement, three samples tested positive in the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro-Sciences (NIMHANS) in southern city of Bengaluru, two at the Centre for Cellular & Molecular Biology (CCMB) in southern city of Hyderabad, and one at the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in south-western city of Pune.

All of them had recently flown in from Britain.

"All these persons have been kept in single room isolation in designated Health Care facilities by respective state governments. Their close contacts have also been put under quarantine," said the statement.

It further stated that comprehensive contact tracing has been initiated for co-travellers, family contacts and others. Genome sequencing on other specimens is going on.

The federal government's statement ensured that 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 labs.