Concern over new strain but no panic – Leitch

Scotland’s national clinical director said he was “not panicking, but concerned” about the discovery of the Brazilian variant in the UK.

Jason Leitch said enhanced contact tracing and testing has been introduced in an attempt to “interrupt chains of transmission” but he was confident there had been no community spreading in Scotland.

Mr Leitch told the BBC’s Good Morning Scotland programme: “It’s the first time we (have found) this particular Brazilian strain in Scotland, and that worries us a little bit, but people shouldn’t get too concerned.

“(There is) no community spread, no evidence it’s gone anywhere else.

“And the reason why we’re worried scientifically is we’re not absolutely certain that this version is amenable to the natural immunity some people already have and the artificial immunity we’re creating with vaccination.”

Asked whether the vaccine would still offer protection against the variant, Mr Leitch said: “Everything we know says it’s still very effective but we just can’t be sure yet because it hasn’t been around long enough, and the trials haven’t completed.”

He insisted it was “not luck” that the variant was discovered, but due to genomic sequence testing of all positive cases from people who have travelled to high-risk areas such as Brazil or countries in southern Africa.

Looking ahead to the next few months of the pandemic, he later told Times Radio: “I’m optimistic, I genuinely am.

“There is light at the end of a tunnel and it’s not a train coming to get us this time, I don’t think.”