People walk past a closed brach of Topshop next to a bus stop coronavirus information sign on Oxford Street in London.Credit:AP
Britain remains in the grip of lockdown as it battles to curb the spread of a variant first discovered on its own shores,as well as trying to keep out other more transmissible variants that have emerged in countries with major outbreaks,including Brazil and South Africa.
Mobile surge testing units are being sent to the areas to carry out door-to-door testing and everyone living in the areas were urged to get tested regardless of whether they had symptoms. Every positive case will also be genomically sequenced.
“There’s currently no evidence to suggest that this variant is any more severe but we need to come down on it hard and we will,” Hancock told a news conference at Downing Street.
“Working with the local authorities we’re going door-to-door to test people in the local area[...] we’ve got to bring this virus to heel,” he said.
Healthcare Epidemiologist Consultant Susan Hopkins,British Health Secretary Matt Hancock and NHS England National Medical Director Stephen Powis speak.Credit:Getty
Dr Susan Hopkins from Public Health England said there was some evidence the vaccines were less effective against the South African variant,but still effective enough to meet the World Health Organisation’s criteria.
“Three of the vaccines that have been used to date in the trials have shown that they’ve been effective against[the] South African variant at a level greater than was set as the minimum standard by the World Health Organisation and the US Food and Drug Administration,” she said.