Three cases of Indian Covid variant identified in Leicester
All the cases have been linked to travel from India
Last updated 28th Apr 2021
Leicester's director of Public Health Professor Ivan Browne has confirmed that the city has received its first notifications from Public Health England (PHE) of the variant known as VUI-21-APR-01, which was first identified in India.
All of the cases have been linked to people travelling from India before it was placed on the Government's red list last Friday.
The City Council say that "as a precautionary measure" further testing will be carried out at a city school. Surge testing is not currently required as the cases are all linked to travel.
Professor Browne said: “Public Health England notified us on Sunday that it had identified three cases of the variant known as VUI-21-APR in Leicester. PHE had already been in touch with the people concerned and some of their contacts.
“Since then we have been working closely with PHE to ensure that all close contacts of those affected are identified and advised to self-isolate for 10 days. Targeted testing is also taking place in a city school as a precautionary measure.
“There is currently no evidence that this variant causes more severe illness or increased risk of mortality. Our advice to everyone remains the same. The best way to stop the spread of the virus is to keep washing or sanitising your hands, wear a face covering in public places, stay apart from those you don’t live with, and abide by the restrictions in place.
“Regardless of whether you have travelled recently, everyone is encouraged to take up the offer of twice weekly testing so that we can stop the spread of the virus.”