South Africa Covid-19 variant does not appear to be more transmissible, British health expert says
From CNN’s Amy Cassidy
British analysis does not suggest that the South African coronavirus variant is more transmissible than other variants, England’s deputy chief medical officer Jonathan Van-Tam said Monday.
Van-Tam’s analysis was based on “early data on modelling” the variant, he said.
He contrasted the South Africa variant with what he referred to as the Kent variant – referred to internationally as the UK variant – which he said does have a transmissibility advantage.
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UK is considering full border closure to contain new Covid-19 variants, minister says
From CNN’s Vasco Cotovio in London
The British government is considering a full closure of the country s borders in order to contain the spread of new variants of Covid-19, according to Environment Secretary George Eustice.
“We always keep these things under review,” Eustice told Sky News on Friday. “There is concern at the moment at the number of mutant strains . concerns that there s a risk that one day there will be a strain that might be able to evade the vaccine.”
“We ve already toughened it up, we think that s the right approach for now, but obviously everything is always kept under review,” he added.