Covid-19: ‘Three quarters of new UK cases could be B.1.167’

Health minister Matt Hancock at a press conference on Thursday said up to three-quarters of the new cases in the UK are thought to be of the variant first detected in India, known as the B.1.167.

The British government says a fast-spreading new coronavirus variant could delay its plans to lift remaining social restrictions next month.

There were a total of 6,959 confirmed cases of the variant, up 3,535 from the total reported last week. (Bloomberg)

Health minister Matt Hancock at a press conference on Thursday said up to three-quarters of the new cases in the UK are thought to be of the variant first detected in India, known as the B.1.167.

According to Public Health England, Britain has seen a total of nearly 7,000 cases of the B.1.617 variant. There were a total of 6,959 confirmed cases of the variant, up 3,535 from the total reported last week.

Sinopharm jabs effective

Two vaccines from China’s Sinopharm successfully prevented symptomatic Covid-19 infections by 72.8% and 78.1%, according to a study published in Journal of the American Medical Association.