Matt Hancock has announced today that a “new variant” of Covid-19 has been identified in England.
The health secretary made the announcement in the House of Commons and believes this could be the reason for rapidly rising infection rates in the South East of England.
The increase in rates has meant that London and large parts of Essex and Hertfordshire will come under tier 3 coronavirus restrictions from 00:01 Wednesday.
Speaking to MPs Mr Hancock said “Over the last few days, thanks to our world-class genomic capability in the UK, we have identified a new variant of coronavirus which may be associated with the faster spread in the South of England.”
Hancock then added: “Initial analysis suggests that this variant is growing faster than the existing variants.
“We’ve currently identified over 1,000 cases with this variant predominantly in the South of England although cases have been identified in nearly 60 different local authority areas.
“And numbers are increasing rapidly.”
“I must stress at this point that there is currently nothing to suggest that this variant is more likely to cause serious disease,”
“And the latest clinical advice is that it’s highly unlikely that this mutation would fail to respond to a vaccine, but it shows we’ve got to be vigilant and follow the rules and everyone needs to take personal responsibility not to spread this virus.”
The health minister then went on to announce that all 32 boroughs of London, Basildon, Brentwood, Harlow, Epping Forest, Castle Point, Rochford, Maldon, Braintree, Chelmsford, Thurrock and Southend-On-Sea in Essex and Broxbourne, Hertsmere, Watford and the Three Rivers local authority in Hertfordshire will also be moved into tier 3.
