MUTANT SPREAD
Surge Covid testing deployed in London after Brazil variant ‘Patient X’ found, Hancock says
SURGE testing has been deployed in London after the patient who contracted the Brazilian variant was finally found, Matt Hancock has said.
The Health Secretary said the patient with the strain lived in a household that had recently returned from Brazil and that testing was being rolled out in Croydon to "minimise the risk of it spreading".
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Speaking at a Downing Street press conference tonight he said patient X had been found due to the "dogged determination" of Test and Trace teams.
Mr Hancock said the incident team at Public Health England who assessed the case do not believe there was any further transmission from the patient.
PHE started a frantic search for someone who had come into the UK with the mutation in February - but didn't fill in the contact details on their form and couldn't be properly traced.
A nationwide search was underway for the mystery person infected after six cases were confirmed last weekend.
They didn't put down the right information on their forms after flying into the UK, sparking a frantic search for them.
Dr Susan Hopkins from PHE, this evening said that the person in question had quarantined correctly on arrival from Brazil.
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Dr Hopkins said that specialist teams from NHS Test and Trace and PHE immediately launched an investigation to identify the individual concerned after it was discovered that the Test and Trace forms had not been filled out correctly.
Speaking at Downing Street she said: "An incident team of forty people from across the system made up of laboratories, logistics and data analytics experts were mobilised to trace the individual.
"The team began with very little information and as of Sunday morning they had a single bar code and a date and time the test was processed at the Cambridge lighthouse laboratory."
She said that it was by using this bar code data that the team were able to establish that the test was delivered through a DHL service.
Dr Hopkins explained the logistical challenges in finding the patient and said that Test and Trace delivers thousands of tests every week and that they had to focus in on where and when each test had been delivered.
These she said, then had to be compared to other tests that were in the system.
She added that the work by a combination of teams managed to narrow patient X down to two regions and 10,000 possible households.
The experts then filtered through distribution centres and cut this down to 379 households.
She said "enhanced contact tracing" then kicked-in, with call handlers contacting those who could have received a test within the specified time period - scaling it down to 27 individuals before the person then came forward.
Dr Hopkins added: "On Wednesday at 3pm an individual phoned the 119 service and were able to give the missing barcode number that they had held securely for the whole time.
"This individual has been interviewed extensively and lives in a household that had recently returned from Brazil - and all had quarantined at home."
She stated that "further precautionary" testing would occur in the neighbourhood and that samples in the area were already being tested for the Brazilian variant.
What is the P1 Brazilian variant?
THE BRAZILIAN variant (P.1) carries three key mutations that affect the spike protein.
The spike protein is the part of the virus, SARS-Cov-2, that attaches to human cells and allows the virus to infect the body.
As a result, it is the part of the virus that the Covid vaccines are designed to target.
That's why scientists believe while the jabs should still work, they could be less effective against the Brazilian and South African strains.
Experts first detected the P.1 variant in Manaus, north Brazil, in December.
It is not yet known if the mutation causes more severe Covid-19, but evidence suggests it may be more transmissible.
Porton Down scientists are conducting more analysis to confirm evidence that indicates the strain does not cause any higher mortality rate or that it affects the vaccines or treatments.
It was detected in Brazil and in travellers from Brazil to Japan, and contains a unique constellation of lineage defining mutations.
Like the South African variant, the Brazilian one carries a mutation in the spike protein called E484K, which is not present in the original UK strain, or the widely circulating Kent strain.
The E484K mutation is present in the South African and Bristol strains.
The E484K mutation is thought to help the virus bypass the immune protection provided by prior infection or vaccination through antibodies.
Scientists analysing the Brazilian variant say the mutations it shares with the South African variant seem to be associated with a rapid increase in cases in locations where previous attack rates are thought to be very high.
They say it is therefore essential to rapidly investigate whether there is an increased rate of re-infection in previously exposed individuals
This, she said, would make sure there were "no further distribution of cases in the community".
Earlier this week Matt Hancock said the search had been narrowed down to just over 300 households in the Gloucestershire area - and they were going door to door to find them.
Speaking at the press conference this evening, Mr Hancock also hailed the vaccine rollout across the UK.
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Two fifths of the UK's adult population have now had a first dose of either the Oxford/AstraZeneca jab or the Pfizer/BioNTech offering.
He also tonight urged all NHS staff to get the jab once they get the call.
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Mr Hancock said: "I urge everybody in the NHS to get the vaccine and we have seen the take-up increase."
He added: "We are not going to bring in mandatory vaccination across the board and at this stage we are not proposing to bring in mandatory vaccination for NHS staff."
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