Up to six cases of Manaus variant coronavirus have been detected in the UK

LONDON (Reuters) – Up to six cases of a highly communicable variant of coronavirus first identified in the Brazilian city of Manaus have been discovered for the first time in Britain, English health officials said Sunday.

Three cases were found in England and a further three in Scotland.

Two of the three cases found in England came from a household in the South Gloucestershire area that had a history of traveling to Brazil. A third, currently unlinked case has yet to be identified, Public Health England said.

The risk to the wider community of the Gloucestershire cases was considered low, but as a precaution, officials quickly moved to run tests and increase sequencing of positive coronavirus samples from the area, PHE said.

The Scottish affairs were not linked to those in England.

The P.1 variant detected in Manaus shares some mutations with a variant first identified in South Africa, and it may be less responsive to current vaccines, PHE said.

Susan Hopkins, PHE’s strategic response director for COVID-19, said Britain’s advanced gene sequencing capabilities meant it found more variants and mutations than many other countries.

At the end of last year, Great Britain discovered a more transmissible variant of coronavirus that is believed to originate near London and has led to a surge in the number of cases in the country and abroad.

“The important thing to remember is that COVID-19, whatever variant it is, spreads the same way. That means the measures to stop the spread will not change, ”Hopkins said.

PHE and testing and tracking system followed all passengers on Swiss Air flight LX318 from Sao Paulo to London via Zurich, which landed at London Heathrow on February 10, to test them and their households.

All three Scottish cases were identified in people returning to the country via Paris and London who isolated themselves for the required 10 day period.

“Due to possible concerns about this variant, other passengers on the three persons’ flight from London to Aberdeen are being contacted,” the Scottish government said.