Health Secretary Sajid Javid tweeted: "UKHSA (UK
Health Security Agency) is investigating a new variant. More data is needed but
we're taking precautions now.
Six African countries will be added to the red list,
flights will be temporarily banned, and UK travellers must quarantine."
Mr Javid said the new B.1.1.529 variant identified in South
Africa "may be more transmissible" than the Delta strain - and warned
"the vaccines that we currently have may be less effective".
The UKHSA says it is the "worst one we've seen so
far" and has a spike protein that is "dramatically" different to
the original COVID strain.
The variant also has 30 mutations - twice as many as the
Delta variant - and these mutations are likely to evade the immune response
generated by prior infection and vaccination.
But the good news is that B.1.1.529 can be detected with a
normal PCR test.
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