Alluding to the emergence of a mutated variant of coronavirus in the United Kingdom, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan on Monday clarified that there is no need to panic as the government is alert on the issue.

On December 19, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson had announced that the newly-identified strain of the virus may be up to 70 per cent more transmissible. According to Health Secretary Matt Hancock, the new variant was "out of control".