| UPDATED: 11:07, Tue, Feb 2, 2021
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Urgent testing for the South African mutated variant of the virus has begun in parts of England after a number of cases were found with no known links to travel or previous cases. Two Covid variant cases were identified in Surrey, with some previous cases traced back to South Africa. Cases caused by the variant were identified as part of Public Health England’s random checks on testing.
Mass testing after two who haven t travelled catch South Africa Covid
Health workers will go door to door offering to test all residents in some areas
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Door-to-door coronavirus testing is being launched across eight parts of England where it is feared the South African variant causing panic around the world is spreading in the community.
In a desperate attempt to keep track of the mutated virus that experts fear could hamper the current crop of vaccines, health officials will join forces with local police, councillors and firefighters to visit homes in Woking in Surrey, Walsall in the West Midlands, as well as parts of London, Kent, Hertfordshire and Lancashire, to offer residents a swab.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock said tonight people in those areas must take extra special precautions amid the threat of an outbreak of the new, highly-infectious variant. Speaking at tonight s Downing Street press conference, he added: The stay at home message is there for everyone but in particular in those areas it s absolutely vital that people minimise all social contact and get a test when the opportunity arises.
3 Min Read
LONDON (Reuters) - Eleven people in different regions of England have tested positive for the South African coronavirus variant without having any links to people who have travelled, prompting mass testing in the areas to contain the outbreak.
A public health information message is seen at a bus stop in West Ealing as the South African variant of the novel coronavirus is reported in parts of the United Kingdom amid the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), London, Britain, February 1, 2021. REUTERS/Toby Melville
Britain, with the world’s fifth-highest COVID-19 death toll, has moved to tighten its borders out of concern that new variants of the virus will undermine its vaccination drive.
Door to door testing is to begin for the South Africa variant of Covid-19 Urgent door-to-door testing for the South Africa variant is to start in parts of England, including London, after untraceable cases of coronavirus have been found. Residents in a part of Surrey are to be the first to be urgently tested for Covid-19 after it emerged the South African strain of the virus may have started spreading in the community. The surge testing has been announced as a precautionary measure and will monitor the community spread of the new varient. A total of 105 cases of the South Africa variant have been found to date in the UK, but this is the first sign of wider community spread.