Experts Warn BOTH Brazilian Covid Variants Now In The UK

EXPERTS warn that BOTH Brazilian Covid variants are now ‘likely’ in the UK

Experts from the government’s Covid Response Team have warned that both strains of the Brazilian Covid mutation are very likely to have reached the UK, despite only cases of the first, less-serious strain being formally identified. Professor Wendy Barclay, a virologist at Imperial College London, clarified that the variant found in the UK thus far is not the more contagious of the two, although she nonetheless admitted that the new strain “might impact the way that antibodies work’.

However, Professor John Edmunds, who works on the Government’s Covid response, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘In terms of the South African one, we had imported cases already by the time we put in additional restrictions for South African travellers.

‘For the Brazilian one… I don’t think there is evidence that we’ve imported cases of the Manaus strain, as far as I’m aware at least, but it is likely that we probably have quite honestly.

‘We are one of the most connected countries in the world so I would find it unusual if we hadn’t imported some cases into the UK.’

The UK announced on Friday, January 15, that it was closing travel corridors with every country in the world in a bid to halt the spread of the virus. However, the Prime Minister has been accused more than once of attempting to shut the stable door after the horse has bolted.

Shadow Home Secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds said that the government’s ‘incompetence is putting lives at risk’.

He added: ‘It is terrible news that evidence of the highly infectious Covid variant from Brazil has been found in the UK. This is yet another example of the Conservatives being far too slow to protect our borders against Covid, closing the door after the horse has bolted.’

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