Rapid Increase Of Indian Variant Cases In London

In London within a week cases of the Covid Indian has increased within eighty percent variant to seven hundred and twenty official figures reveal today.  They show a rise of 320 from 400 last week.

However, the increased suggest that the mutation, which scientists believe transmits significantly more easily than the Kent variant, is not spiralling out of control in the capital.

Cases more than doubled between May 5 and 12.

Surge testing and extra vaccinations are being deployed in Hounslow to combat the variant B1.617.2.

There were 153 confirmed Covid-19 cases in the west London borough in the week to May 15, a seven-day rate of 56.3 infections per 100,000 people, a rise of 28.6 on the previous week.

The B.1.617.2 cases in the city are believed to be largely linked to people having returned from India passing on the infection to their households or close contacts, rather than any significant community transmission.

Cases of the Indian variant of coronavirus across the country have risen by more than 2,000 in the space of a week, according to the figures which are around two weeks out-of-date as it takes such a period for genomic sequencing to be carried out to identify the mutation.

Public Health England (PHE) said the latest weekly data showed there were 3,424 cases of the B1617.2 mutation, a rise of 2,111 on the previous week.

While most cases were concentrated in the North West, particularly Bolton, and London, PHE said it was seeing “clusters of cases” across the country.

Dr Meera Chand, the Covid-19 incident director at PHE, said it was essential people in the worst-affected areas who had yet to receive their second dose of the vaccine came forward as soon as it was offered.

“This is vitally important in the light of our current assessment that (B1.617.2) has grown rapidly in England and may be highly transmissible,” she said.

“PHE will continue to monitor all variants closely, paying particular attention to the impact on hospitalisations and deaths which will help us to understand the protective effects of the vaccine.”

HE said it was also investigating another new variant after 49 cases were identified, mostly in Yorkshire and the Humber region.

So far, there is no evidence that it causes more severe disease or renders the vaccines less effective.

At the same time NHS Test and Trace said 15,202 people in England tested positive for Covid-19 in the week to May 12 - up five per cent on the previous week and the first seven-day increase since early January.

The latest figures came after Boris Johnson said on Wednesday that there was “increasing confidence” in Government that the vaccines were effective against the Indian variant.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said that the daily case rates had not shown any “sharp increases or significant areas of concern”.

The rise in cases of the Indian variant came as a leaked document suggested the rapid spread of the strain was at least partially due to failures at NHS Test and Trace.

The report seen by the BBC said for three weeks in April and May, eight local authorities in England did not have access to the full data on positive tests in their area, meaning more than 700 cases were not reported and traced locally.

Among the areas affected was Blackburn with Darwen - one of the areas where the Indian strain is most prevalent.

Downing Street said that only a small number of authorities had been involved and that the issue had been “quickly resolved”.

The latest disclosures came as a member of the Government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) warned the country could be seeing the start of a third wave of the pandemic.

Professor Andrew Hayward, an infectious diseases expert at University College London, said he was “very concerned” about the rise of the Indian variant and new measures could be required to bring it under control.

He said it would become apparent over the next one to two weeks whether localised outbreaks of the variant would become more generalised.