The variant has been discovered in various countries around the world, including in Australia, Denmark, the US, and Canada. The case in Canada was linked to travel from Nigeria and some cases have linked it to travel from Sub-Saharan Africa. He said this was due to the British, or B117 variant. “I think the major contribution to that is the B117 variant going from 50pc of our cases to now being 90pc of cases,” he said. “That of itself is going to increase the R number by 0.1, if not a little bit more.”He said mobility or social contact would form smaller factors in the R number increase.

Source: Irish Independent February 25, 2021 19:30 UTC