Covid surge testing to be deployed in part of Essex after South African variant detected

Surge testing is to be deployed in a region of Essex after health authorities detected a single case of the South African coronavirus variant.

Residents in the CM13 postcode of Brentwood, Essex, are being urged to come forward for a Covid-19 test, even if they do not have symptoms.

Genomic sequencing in the area will also be ramped up as part of efforts to control and suppress the spread of the South African variant, which is capable of diminishing the effectiveness of the Covid vaccines.

Positive cases that are picked up in Brentwood will be assessed to determine which coronavirus variant was responsible for the infection.

People with symptoms should book a test in the usual way, the Department for Health and Social Care said on Sunday, and those without symptoms are being asked to visit their local authority website for more information.

Targeted testing regimes were also set up this week in parts of Leeds, Norfolk, Southampton and Woking.

According to Public Health England, a total of 167 cases linked to the South African variant have been detected in the UK to date.

The variant carries the concerning E484K mutation in its spike protein, which is responsible for gaining entry to human cells.

This makes the virus less recognisable to the body’s immune system and more resistant to the current generation of vaccines - though evidence shows that the jabs remain effective in preventing serious illness, hospitalisation and death from the South African variant.

The deployment of surge testing in Brentwood comes as health secretary Matt Hancock said that the number of coronavirus cases linked to the South African and Brazilian variants are falling in the UK.

“There is evidence that the measures that we are taking, both the enhanced contact tracing and also stricter measures at the border, are working,” he told Sky News on Sunday.

“If one of these new variants doesn’t respond to the vaccine as well as the others – as well as the standard variant in the UK, which is the Kent variant – then, if that’s the case, then that’s obviously a very serious risk for the vaccination programme.

“We’re doing a lot of work to find out the impact of the vaccine on these new variants – especially the ones discovered in Brazil and South Africa – because, clearly, the answer to that question is critical to understanding how much of a risk the new variants pose.

“But the good news is the actions we’re taking right now do appear to be working.”