Surge testing rolled out in new Covid hotspots Buckinghamshire and Lambeth amid South African variant
SURGE testing will be rolled out in Buckinghamshire and Lambeth following the discovery of the South African coronavirus variant.
Increased testing will be introduced to the new Covid hotspots, with people living in those areas being strongly encouraged to be tested.
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Prior to the third lockdown, the area had one of Britain's highest infection rates with a staggering 1,107 cases per 100,000 people in the week ending December 21.
Surge testing has been put in place in certain areas in the UK to monitor the spread of the new variants.
Last week, the Government announced surge testing in spots in Manchester, Norfolk, Southampton and Surrey.
Positive cases will be sequenced for genomic data to help understand Covid-19 variants and their spread within those areas.
It comes despite Matt Hancock assured Brits that cases of the variant were falling across the UK.
The Health Secretary said there was evidence that the stricter measures - including contact tracing and stricter border measures - had slowed the spread of the new strains.
"And we've also got a very strong set of actions working with the local authorities very specifically in the areas where a new variant is found.
"We hit it hard and send in enhanced contact-tracing and go door-to-door.
"We've now got this programme in place to be able to really, really try to stamp out a new variant where we see it. There is evidence that is working."
The variant was first found in the country in December and experts have warned that it can spread at a faster rate than others - with hundreds more undetected cases thought to be in the country.
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Out of several new variants of Covid which have spread in the UK since the end of 2020, the three of most concern emerged in Kent (B1.1.7), South Africa (B.1.351) and Brazil (P.2).
The South African variant has a mutation called E484K, which scientists believe could make vaccines less effective.
