UPDATED: Public Health England says Indian coronavirus variant of concern
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Public Health England said on Friday that coronavirus variant B.1.617.2, which was first identified in India, would be classified as a variant of concern due to evidence it was more transmissible.
It said that the other characteristics of the variant were still being investigated.
“There is currently insufficient evidence to indicate that any of the variants recently detected in India cause more severe disease or render the vaccines currently deployed any less effective,” PHE said in a statement.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Friday the government needed to handle carefully the emergence of new coronavirus strains first found in India which have since started to spread in the United Kingdom.
“I think we’ve got to be very careful about that. We’re doing a huge amount, obviously, to make sure that when we do find outbreaks of the Indian variant that we do surge testing, that we do door-to-door testing,” he told reporters.
Photo: Clinical staff wear Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) as they care for patients on the Covid Recovery Ward at Royal Papworth Hospital in Cambridge, Britain. EPA-EFE/NEIL HALL / POOL
