Surge Covid tests deployed in Merseyside after cases of India variant were confirmed in the area
SURGE Covid testing has been rolled out in a town after more cases of the Indian variant of the virus were found in the area.
NHS Test and Trace is urging everyone over the age of 16 in the Formby area, Merseyside, to take a PCR Covid test from today.
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A Department of Health spokesman said people in Formby with confirmed cases of the B.1.617 variant, which originated in India, have self-isolated.
Their contacts are currently being identified.
Formby, which has a population of around 22,000 people in the Sefton area, is about 13 miles from Liverpool.
Cases of the Indian Covid variant in the UK have more than doubled in a week - as Boris Johnson hinted it could delay lockdown ending on June 21.
SURGE TESTING ROLLED OUT
The number of infections found in the UK has risen from 520 on May 5, to 1,313.
The PM said he is ruling "nothing out", as he vowed to combat the spread of the infectious mutation.
Compared to the Kent variant – which is the dominant virus in the UK – the numbers are very small, but the rate at which they are growing is a concern.
The PM admitted ministers were “very anxious” about the mutation – which could be up to 60 per cent more transmissible than the Kent variant, although this has not been proven.
As the mutation is a Variant of Concern, surge testing has been deployed in a number of hotspots, with locals told to be extra cautious.
And while there are fears the variant could evade vaccines, a study of jabbed care home workers in Delhi who got infected found none become seriously ill or died.
It is still unclear how the Indian variant reacts to vaccines, but this suggests the mutated virus won’t cause high numbers of hospitalisation or death in protected people.
Meanwhile, new daily Covid cases have risen by 65 per cent in one week, data from the ZOE Covid symptom study app suggests.
Sounding a note of caution on a trip to Durham this morning, the Prime Minister said: “There is a range of things we could do, we are ruling nothing out.”
He said he was optimistic he could ease restrictions on Monday as planned, and hoped to be able to continue with the June 21 freedoms.
But he also refused to close down speculation that local lockdowns could return in virus hotbeds such as Bolton.
The PM said: “It is a variant of concern, we are anxious about it. At the moment there is a very wide range of scientific opinion about what could happen.
“We want to make sure we take all the prudential, cautious steps now that we could take, so there are meetings going on today to consider exactly what we need to do.
“There is a range of things we could do, we are ruling nothing out.”
Called B.1.617.2, it is thought to be even more transmissible than the Kent strain, and could soon overthrow it.
The B.1.617.2 variant is believed to make up half of all Covid infections in London, Bedford and South Northamptonshire and be spreading 60 per faster than other strains of the virus.
Bolton has seen the highest rise in Indian variant cases, as overall infections leapt by 93 per cent in a week.
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Public Health England has launched surge testing in Bolton to tackle the spread.
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Erewash in Derbyshire, Blackburn, Bedford, South Northamptonshire and Sefton and London have also seen increases.
There are three Indian variants in the UK, named B.1.617, B.1.617.2 and B.1.617.3.