The variant that emerged in Brazil, has been detected in six people in the UK. Vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi said they will launch community wide testing in western England where the Brazil strain was confirmed. Britain on Monday appealed for a person infected with a powerful Covid-19 strain from Brazil to come forward, as experts fretted about its impact on new vaccines. Vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi said community-wide "surge testing" was starting in South Gloucestershire, western England, after two of the Manaus cases were confirmed there. In mid-January, Britain banned flights from South America including Brazil, and introduced a mandatory hotel quarantine system a month later.

Source: News 24 March 01, 2021 15:22 UTC