New Delhi: The United Kingdom on Tuesday started door-to-door testing as new South African variant of COVID-19 spread through the country.
Residents in eight areas of the country would now be tested whether or not they were showing symptoms, a process known as “surge testing”, according to media reports.
The UK reported 105 cases of the South African variant since December 22 and is bracing to contain new outbreaks.
British health officials have tested around 80,000 people in eight suspected areas: three in London, two in the southeast, one in central England, one in the east and the last in the northwest
Michelle Donelan, a junior education minister, said that “It is concerning — it’s deeply concerning, It’s still a very perilous stage of this virus and we have got these new variants spreading.”
A few weeks ago, Britain rolled out a mass vaccination programme in which nearly 9.3 million people have already received the first shot.
The country’s top scientific advisers have favoured tougher border restrictions.
(Vinayak)
