Source::Xinhuanet
XINHUA/RSS
A total of 3,424 cases of the India-related variant have been recorded in Britain, according to the latest figures from Public Health England published Thursday. The B1617.2 variant of concern is believed to be more transmissible than the Kent variant that had become dominant in Britain.
The spread of the variant first detected in India has resulted in surge testing and vaccinations in many areas. The latest figure came after British Health Secretary Matt Hancock said Wednesday that 2,967 cases of the coronavirus variant have been reported in Britain, 28 percent up from Monday's figure of more than 2,300.
Hancock has warned that the variant can "spread like wildfire" among those who haven't had a jab. Earlier Thursday, a British government advisory scientist warned that the India-related coronavirus variant could drive another wave in Britain. "The virus just got faster," said Andrew Hayward, a professor from the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE), indicating that Britain could be at start of the third COVID wave.
"That really brings it back down to this race against the vaccine and the virus," Hayward, an infectious diseases expert at University College London, told the BBC.
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