Indian variant tracked, traced and stopped from spreading across borough

THE INDIAN variant of Covid-19 has been identified in the borough.

It was found in a number of cases diagnosed in the fortnight leading up to Saturday, May 1.

Now associated with rising cases in Bedford, Bolton, and Blackburn, the government’s scientists, Sage, predicts the Covid-19 variant is 50% more transmissible than the original strain of the virus.

This means it could affect the end of all Covid-19 restrictions on Monday, June 21.

Last week, cases of the variant rose from

520 to 1,313 in the UK.

In the borough, there were between 7 and 14 cases identified in the fortnight up to Saturday, May 1, as reported in The Guardian.

But since then, no further cases have been found.

Director of Public Health for Berkshire

Meradin Peachy said there was no spread into the wider community from these cases.

“The few cases were directly linked to foreign travel and those affected isolated immediately and no further cases linked to them have been reported,” he said.

“Since May 1, the number of cases in the borough has continued to fall and remains very low and there have been just three Covid-19 admissions to Royal Berkshire Hospital in the past three weeks.

“The stats used in the national press show the risks of using percentages when you are dealing with low real numbers – in the timeframe covered there were just 37 [PCR confirmed] cases in the borough so the high 10 to 20% quoted in the press actually relate to about seven people all of whom were in household clusters that were well-managed.

“The most important point for public health was that the cases were contained and there was no spread into the community, however, we do know that VOC (varients of concern) are now being reported across more of the country and must not be complacent in Wokingham borough.”

Mr Peachy said covid response teams are monitoring all data and ready to react to any more cases.

“It is also vital that, as restrictions are lifted, we all remain sensible – keep to basics such as hand washing; get tested and isolate if necessary and keep to those rules that are still in place,” he added.