Data showing an uptick in cases in younger people suggests this was largely because schools had stayed open, enabling the variant to spread rapidly. By late November, scientists started to raise concerns over the rising number of infections in Kent in the southeast. By December, the country's leading epidemiologists were warning the new variant was outpacing the restrictions. "The daily trend is showing the lockdown having an effect on those new daily cases," Head said. "It may well mean, for example, that any lockdown may have to be in place for longer than would have been the case with the old variant," Head said.

Source: CNN January 25, 2021 09:43 UTC