POSTCODE CHECKER
Covid testing to find mutant strains deployed to three new postcodes – is yours on the list?
PEOPLE living in parts of London are being urged to get Covid tests after cases of the South African variant were detected.
Doorstep 'surge' testing will be taking place in three postcodes in Lambeth, the Department of Health said tonight.
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People living in SE27 0, SE27 9 and SW16 2 will be offered tests and have been urged to continue to follow the 'Hands, Face, Space' message.
Locals are asked to come forward for testing to keep the spread as contained as possible. And tracers are using enhanced tracing to find out where new variants may have come from.
Tonight, the Government's emergency virus group Nervtag confirmed a new variant detected in Bristol last week is now a "variant of concern".
And a variant found in Liverpool is "under investigation".
It comes as:
- Brits face £10k hotel quarantine fine if they end 10-day isolation early – and you can be forced to stay longer
- UK Covid deaths rise by another 1,052 as Matt Hancock says daily cases dropped by 47% in a fortnight
- The Covid symptom that can put you off having sex, study warns
- Fury as ‘whitewash’ WHO probe finds Covid did NOT start in Wuhan lab and backs China’s claim it came from elsewhere
- Air passenger from South Africa reveals she walked through Heathrow in 10 minutes with NO checks despite mutant strain
It comes as mass testing is deployed in 14 areas of England, in the hunt for mutant strains of the virus.
Last night, 10,000 people in parts of Manchester were urged to get a test, as four cases of a variant similar to that seen in Bristol, were detected in two separate and unconnected households.
What are the different variants in the UK?
- The original Covid virus - this is the variant that was widely circulating in 2020
- The Kent variant - this became the dominant version of the virus just before Christmas
- The South African variant - this is a variant that cropped up in South Africa and has now been traced in the UK - both in people who have and haven't travelled to the country. It features the E484K mutation which helps the virus evade vaccines
- The Bristol variant - this developed from the Kent strain, and now (unlike the dominant Kent strain) features the E484K mutation, helping it escape vaccines too
- The Liverpool variant - this developed from the original Covid virus, and (unlike the original) features the E484K mutation.
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Testing times
As cases of the new variants are detected, surge testing is being deployed to try and crackdown on any potential spread.
Last week the first announcement of its kind revealed tests being deployed in Worcestershire, Surrey, Kent, parts of London as well as Merseyside and the West Midlands.
Then Matt Hancock revealed doorstep testing had been expanded to Bristol and Liverpool.
Last night, Manchester City Council confirmed they too were rolling out more tests to trace cases of a variant similiar to the Bristol strain - featuring the E484K mutation.
Residents in these areas were last week urged to go to new pop-up testing sites even if they didn't have any Covid-19 symptoms.
The three main symptoms of coronavirus are a new persistent cough, a high temperature and a loss of taste and smell.
If you have any of the these symptoms you should isolate and get a test.
Dr Susan Hopkins, from Public Health England, said on Tuesday, despite the more serious classification numbers of variant cases weren't rising fast.
She said: "I think it is reassuring we aren't seeing week on week increases of them [the variants]. They are remaining static.
"The data is always lagging behind but we have been watching them for four weeks."
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Residents in 18 areas across England and now Lambeth in London, have been asked to get a test regardless of their symptoms, with tests being dropped off door-to-door and more tests sites opening up.
Extra testing sites will be set up to enable anyone aged over 16 who lives, works or studies in the affected areas - which includes postcodes in Hulme, Moss Side, Whalley Range and Fallowfield.
In the next few days, volunteers will start knocking on people's doors to offer tests for anyone who cannot get to a site,
The testing blitz will also be available for people who work in the area but do not live there.
Those who have been vaccinated should also take a test, the council has said.
The rollout will use PCR swabs, which take a few days to return results, and anyone who tests positive will be asked to self-isolate and pass on details of their contacts to NHS Test and Trace.
LIMIT EXPOSURE
Manchester City Council said it is working with Public Health England and NHS Test and Trace to investigate the spread further and take action to limit the number of people exposed.
David Regan, public health director at Manchester City Council, said: "We all know that the virus will change over time and it's important that we investigate new strains to understand how they might spread.
"This is exactly what we're doing with the intensive testing in parts of Manchester, with local testing units and people going door-to-door to offer people tests."
Those living or working in postcodes M14 4, M14 7, M15 5, M15 6, M16 7, M16 8 are affected - and should check the council's website for more information.
Brits living in areas of Sefton, Merseyside, and parts of Bristol and South Gloucestershire were able to get a test after cases of the variant with no links to international travel were identified.
Health officials are scrambling to prevent the surge of the South Africa strain, as it is feared that it could reduce the efficacy of vaccines.
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The Department for Health and Social Care has said more areas will have additional testing made available to control the spread of Covid-19 variants.
It comes just days after it was revealed 11 rogue cases of the South African strain, with no links to foreign travel, were detected across eight postcodes in England.
A major door-to-door testing blitz on up to 350,000 people was launched earlier last week in a fightback against the new strains in hotspot areas.
Testing of around 10,000 people in Maidstone, Kent, was completed last Thursday night.
It comes after new mutant strains of Covid have been detected in the UK, sparking a race to develop booster jabs.
Health Secretary Matt Hancock confirmed the threat, with government scientists and pharma firms now working on booster doses against these new mutations.
It was yesterday reported that the Test & Trace scheme doesn't yet know whether the surge testing has detected any cases of the South African variant as scientists are yet to report their findings.
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The results are set to emerge later this week.
Mr Hancock added that the government "has a plan to keep new variants under control".
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He said that Brits "mustn't let a new variant undo all of the good work that the vaccine rollout is doing to protect people"
Around one in 20 positive tests are sequenced and it is hoped that the current lockdown will drive cases low enough so that all tests are sent for further sequencing.
Mobile unit set up in Worcester as two new postcodes get door-to-door ‘surge’ Covid testing
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