Covid news - live: New UK Covid variant under investigation as surge testing rolled out in two more areas
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Your support makes all the difference.Scientists have identified 16 cases of a new coronavirus variant in the UK, which is now under investigation, Public Health England (PHE) has said.
The new variant, referred to as VUI-2021 02/04, was first identified on 15 February through genomic horizon scanning. All individuals who tested positive and their contact have been traced and advised to isolate, said PHE.
It comes as surge testing is to be rolled out in targeted areas in London and Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham. However, this additional testing is aimed at suppressing the spread of the South African variant of concern, not the new UK variant.
PHE said that as of Wednesday, a total of 29 cases of the South African variant have been detected in England where there were no travel links.
Rapid Covid tests could provide additional layer of ‘safety’, say experts
Rapid coronavirus tests could be used as an “extra layer of safety” for entertainment venues or to cut the risk of transmission on flights if done at airports, experts have said.
Irene Peterson, professor of epidemiology and health informatics at University College London, said quick testing “is an opportunity to do things that we haven’t done for the last year”.
Boris Johnson already said lateral flow testing could help venues such as theatres and nightclubs to welcome customers back once they are allowed to again.
Prof Peterson said during online event titled ‘Can we test ourselves out of the Covid-19 pandemic’: “If we get the overall number of people infected in our society low, I see the lateral flow tests as an extra layer of security.
“I would much rather go to the cinema knowing that everybody else had tested around me, before I go into the cinema.”
In response to a question about whether travellers should take the rapid tests at the airport shortly before boarding a plane, Eric Kutscher from New York University School of Medicine, said such an approach could “work really well to decrease the risk of transmission on the flights”.
However, he warned that people should be made aware of the limitations of rapid testing so they still practice cautious behaviour.
“I think all of us who are advocating for mass testing have said you have to continue wearing your masks and you have to continue social distancing even if you test negative, and so that’s the component that I think would allow it to be OK,” said Mr Kutscher.
“I think, similarly for flights, it’s the same limitation, so if you do this (rapid testing) as a requirement beforehand, I think that it sounds like it would work really well to decrease the risk of transmission on the flights.”
Home Office to move more people into Napier Barracks despite multiple health warnings
The Home Office is planning to move more people into Napier Barracks within weeks, despite a series of damning revelations about unsuitable and non-Covid compliant conditions on the site.
A letter has been sent to residents stating they will be moved out of the controversial army camp, which was repurposed to house asylum seekers, and that other people will be moved in.
It comes as The Independent reveals that an NHS assessment of the military site in January outlined a series of failings by ministers and contracted firms to prevent and control a Covid outbreak among residents.
Our Social Affairs Correspondent May Bulman has the exclusive story:
Home Office to move more people into Napier Barracks despite multiple warnings from health officials
Exclusive: New residents to be transferred to military camp within weeks in move shadow minister describes as ‘staggering’ after government warnings of unsuitable and non-Covid compliant conditions
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