Surge testing to be rolled out in West London after Indian variant identified
Additional Covid-19 testing will begin in parts of West London in the coming days after cases of the so-called “Indian” variant of the disease was identified.
Targeted settings and postcodes within Harrow, Ealing, Hillingdon and Brent will be subject to extra testing.
Those with confirmed cases of the disease are isolating, with health workers in the process of identifying their contacts.
Local authorities will shortly confirm the areas where additional testing will be offered in their boroughs, and reach out directly to residents to ensure people come forward for testing to stop the spread of the virus.
The extra testing comes as cases of the variant continue to rise, although they remain at a low level.
The data from Thursday showed that there were 3,424 cases of the variant recorded in total in the UK, over 2,000 more than last week.
As a result of concerns over the variant, UK travellers have from this morning been banned from entering Germany.
It comes as people aged 32 and 33 are being invited to book vaccine appointments for the first time.
Text messages will be sent to 33-year-olds on Saturday and to 32-year-olds on Monday.