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Parts of England will receive door-to-door coronavirus testing amid concern the South African virus variant may be spreading in the wider community.
Cases of the mutation have been identified in people who don’t have obvious travel links, pointing to the possibility of local transmission of a strain whose U.K. cases have so far only been traced back to South Africa.
Public Health England said “enhanced testing” and genomic sequencing would be rolled out in parts of London, the West Midlands, the East of England, the South East and North West — with authorities “strongly” encouraging everyone over 16 in the listed postal codes to take a COVID-19 test this week.
Door-to-door testing is expected to be carried out in eight postal codes, covering some 80,000 people.
PHE said it had identified 105 cases of the variant first identified in South Africa since December 22, with all cases and their contacts reached and told to self-isolate. There’s no evidence the South African variant has more serious effects than other strains, but data suggest some vaccines may be less effective at protecting against it.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the U.K.’s genomics expertise meant it had “been able to identify new strains of the virus and take decisive action,” and promised the government would “continue to closely monitor new variants, here and around the world” and make “surge testing capacity available to affected areas.”
Susan Hopkins, chief medical adviser for the NHS Test and Trace scheme, confirmed that a “small proportion” of the South African variant cases identified had “no link to international travel, suggesting that there are some cases in the community.”
“In response to this, we are ramping up testing in targeted areas, so we can gather more information and effectively monitor any further community transmission,” she added.
Rowland Kao, a professor of veterinary epidemiology and data science at the University of Edinburgh, said in a statement that the limited scope of testing meant there’s a “high probability” that further local cases of the South African variant are already in circulation, making it “more difficult” to contain its spread.
Given that some vaccines may be less effective against this variant, “slowing its spread via surge testing and maintaining travel restrictions to prevent it jumping to other areas of the U.K. (if it has not done so already) will be important to keep COVID-19 infections continuing downwards,” he added.
Meanwhile, U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Monday that the U.K.’s vaccines will provide “a high degree of immunity and protection against all variants.” Jabs would “continue to develop and to adapt” to account for changes in the virus, he added.
Helen Collis contributed reporting.
This article is part of POLITICO’s premium policy service: Pro Health Care. From drug pricing, EMA, vaccines, pharma and more, our specialized journalists keep you on top of the topics driving the health care policy agenda. Email [email protected] for a complimentary trial.
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