There have been two more cases of a COVID-19 Variant of Concern identified in England.
Two cases of the COVID-19 variant known as VOC-21JAN-02 (P.1) which have been linked with international travel to Brazil have been identified in the West Midlands and London. The case in the West Midlands was identified at Birmingham Airport and the London case was identified through surge testing.
Surge testing
Following identification of the Birmingham case, the individual was quarantined as part of the managed hotel quarantine process. The London case initiated a comprehensive contact tracing investigation to identify possible infected contact and will see surge testing stepped up in the affected area.
The identification of the two cases brings the total number of P.1 variant cases in the UK to 12 – nine in England and three in Scotland. All these confirmed cases have links to travel or to a previously confirmed case that has travelled to Brazil.
On 13 March, another four cases of the Variant of Concern VOC-202101/02, also known as P.1, were identified in England – three in South Gloucestershire and one in Bradford, West Yorkshire.
A new variant has been found
As well as the identification of the two VOC-21JAN-02 (P.1) cases, a new variant – VUI-21MAR-02 (P.3) – has been identified and designated as a Variant Under Investigation (VUI) by Public Health England (PHE), with two cases being reported in England.
The Philippines has reported 33 cases of this new variant which includes a number of concerning mutations including E484K and N501Y, which are found in several other Variants of Concern.
For the two cases that have been identified in England, one of the cases is linked with international travel and the other is currently under investigation.
PHE is monitoring the situation.
