UK scientists assessing spread of new Covid variant ‘on daily basis’

Health officials say they are still assessing whether a variant of Covid-19 first discovered in India is more transmissible and vaccine evasive than other forms of the virus after the discovery of 77 cases in the UK.

Susan Hopkins, a senior medical adviser at Public Health England, said on Sunday that scientists did not have enough data to clarify whether it should be classed as a “variant of concern” — the most serious classification.

At the moment the B.1.617 variant, which has been linked with a surge in cases in India in recent weeks, has been classified by Britain as a “variant under investigation”.