Health leaders play down concerns after Indian Covid variant found in York

It's been confirmed a concerning new variant of coronavirus has been detected in York, as Boris Johnson admits he's "anxious" about it.

Case numbers in the city are believed to be low, and health officials said Public Health England have been carrying out "enhanced" contact tracing here.

But health leaders are playing down concerns, saying no further action is needed.

Sharon Stoltz, Director of Public Health said: “In York, we have had very few cases of the variant identified as B.1.617.2, first found in India. Public Health England has investigated these cases and no further action has been required."

Some areas of the country have seen surge testing brought in- but that's not going to happen in York.

Experts also say there's no evidence the variant is more deadly, or that current vaccines don't work against it.

Fiona Phillips, who's the deputy public health director for York, is remaining confident, adding "60% of the adult population here have had at least one dose of the vaccine."

The UK wants to "grip it"

Scientists are keeping a close eye on the spread of the variant across the UK, with a big rise in cases expected to be revealed on Thursday.

Speaking in County Durham, the Prime Minister said: "It is a variant of concern, we are anxious about it.

"At the moment there is a very wide range of scientific opinion about what could happen.

"We want to make sure we take all the prudential, cautious steps now that we could take, so there are meetings going on today to consider exactly what we need to do.

"There is a range of things we could do, we are ruling nothing out."

Three types of the Indian variant have been identified in the UK, one of which is a variant of concern.

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