New variant cases confirmed in North Yorkshire

North Yorkshire has had its first confirmed cases of the South African variant of Covid-19.

The North Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum says the cases are linked to international travel, and not community transmission.

North Yorkshire County Council's Director of Public Health Louise Wallace says: "It involves a very small number of cases in the Scarborough borough area.

"The cases involved have done all the right things since returning from abroad, and have self-isolated in line with the guidance. There isn't considered to be any community risk associated with them, so we won't be sharing any additional information about them.

"At this time, we're not aware of any other cases of the variant in North Yorkshire. It is the case that there are a number of variants of the virus in circulation at any time.

"By the nature of the virus, these variants evolve. It's essential that people stick to the rules to help prevent further transmission.

"I want to thank everybody who has done the right thing and stuck to the guidance".

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