The new cases have been quarantined, and restrictions on travel from South Africa have been imposed.
There is another new coronavirus variant, which seems to have undergone future mutation and is more transmissible, has been detected in the UK, Health Secretary Matt Hancock announced on Wednesday (December 23).
Announcing the development at a press briefing where he outlined further restrictions in south and east England, Hancock said there are two cases of the new variant in the UK, both contacts of cases who have travelled from South Africa.
“This virus is yet more transmissible and appears to have mutated further than the new virus,” he said, the BBC reported.
The new cases have been quarantined, and restrictions on travel from South Africa have been imposed, Hancock said, appealing to anyone who has been in South Africa in the past fortnight or is a close contact of someone who has been to South Africa in the last fortnight to quarantine themselves immediately.
Like the UK variant identified earlier, the new variant of the novel coronavirus is also driving a massive resurgence of the disease in South Africa, with experts warning the country is probably facing a much larger second wave.
“Both (cases of the new variant) are contacts of cases who have travelled from South Africa over the past few weeks,” Hancock said, addressing a briefing from 10 Downing Street.
“This new variant is highly concerning because it is yet more transmissible and it appears to have mutated further than the new variant that has been discovered in the UK,” he said.
The minister confirmed immediate restrictions on travel from South Africa and the government's urgent message being for anyone who has been in South Africa or been in contact with someone linked with the country in the last fortnight to immediately quarantine.
As a result, even more parts of the UK are set to be put under the strictest level of lockdown after ministers held talks earlier on Wednesday following the UK registering 36,804 positive coronavirus cases, the largest daily number of infections recorded at any time during the pandemic.
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