in south africa, the first real world evidence has shown 0micron may evade some of our immunity. scientists have found a surge in the number of people being reinfected with covid but there is still real uncertainty about 0micron. we don t know yet about whether there is genuine immune escape withthis variant, we won t know for some time whether people become more unwell with this variant once they are infected. i think we know it is more transmissable, but we need even more definitive data. science is moving fast, but it will take weeks before it is clearjust how much of a threat is posted by 0micron. fergus walsh, bbc news. the latest uk government figures on covid show that there have been 50,584 confirmed positive tests in the past 24 hours. a further 143 people have died following a positive covid test. almost 421 thousand people have recived their booster, or third dose of the vaccine.
in south africa, the first real world evidence has shown 0micron may evade some of our immunity. scientists have found a surge in the number of people being reinfected with covid but there is still real uncertainty about 0micron. we don t know yet about whether there is genuine immune escape withthis variant, we won t know for some time whether people become more unwell with this variant once they are infected. i think we know it is more transmissable, but we need even more definitive data. science is moving fast, but it will take weeks before it is clearjust how much of a threat is posted by 0micron. fergus walsh, bbc news. much more on this story on our website including this analysis of the latest world health 0rganisation guidance. just log on to bbc.com/news the parents of the teenager ethan crumbley