Health workers carry the body of a man who died of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) from an ambulance for burial in a cemetery in New Delhi, India, April 16, 2021. REUTERS / Danish Siddiqui
British health officials are investigating a COVID-19 variant that originated in India, but they don’t yet have enough evidence to classify it as a variant of concern, Susan Hopkins of Public Health England (PHE) said Sunday.
On the Andrew Marr Show on the BBC, Hopkins said, “We don’t have enough data on this variant yet to clarify whether it is a variant of concern. We have mentioned it as a variant under investigation.”
“In order for it to escalate in the rankings, we need to know that it is increased transmissibility, greater severity or vaccine avoidance, and we just don’t have that yet, but we’re looking at the data daily.”
PHE has said it has identified 77 cases of the variant in Great Britain.
Earlier, Environment Minister George Eustice said Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s trip to India should continue later this month, despite increasing cases in the country.
“It’s important that business and politics, if you want to, go ahead,” he said, adding that a committee of experts periodically review decisions about whether or not to allow travel to certain countries.
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