Is African strain spreading in UK?

THE highly infectious South Africa Covid strain is believed to be spreading across Britain.

From just two cases in December, latest figures show there are now at least 30 in the UK and three in the Republic of Ireland.

The mutant virus, known as B1351, was first reported in South Africa in October.

Details of the 30 cases are revealed in a report by Edinburgh University. But researchers said the true number is likely to be much higher as only a fraction of those who test positive have the virus’s genetic code sequenced to detect a mutation.

Public Health England refused to comment on the numbers. Sources said they were ‘carefully monitoring the variant strain’ and the official number of cases would be updated this week.

The first two cases of the infectious variant were identified in the UK on December 20. Both of the patients had been in contact with someone who had travelled from South Africa.

It is not unusual for viruses to mutate. So far 4,000 variants of Covid-19 have been identified in the UK. But last week, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said he was incredibly worried about the South African variant as it is highly infectious.

There are also concerns that it may be more resistant to vaccines, however this has not been researched yet. The South African variant has also been spotted in Switzerland, France, Sweden, Finland, Australia and Botswana.

Scientists in the UK were particularly concerned about its discovery in London last month because the UK is already battling another strain which was first identified in Kent.

This infectious variant has plunged the UK into its third national lockdown and triggered a wave of hospital admissions and deaths.

Meanwhile, Japanese authorities are studying four individuals who arrived from Brazil on January 2 carrying another new variant. This strain is also believed to be highly infectious and possibly more resistant to vaccines.