Variant in Brazil: The UK is hunting individuals infected with the Covid-19 variant first identified in Manaus

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The person is one of six cases of the P.1 variant discovered in the UK, according to Public Health England (PHE) in a press release on Sunday, adding that three of the cases were in England and another three in Scotland.

The unidentified person did not fill out a registration card associated with their test, so officials cannot track them, PHE said. Anyone who has taken a test on February 12 or 13 and has not received a result “or has an unfinished test registration card” will be asked to contact us.

Speaking to Sky News on Monday, the UK’s vaccination minister, Nadhim Zahawi, believes the individual “would likely receive a home kit or test kit from the local government.”

The two other cases identified in England come from a household in the Gloucestershire region with a history of traveling to Brazil, PHE said. The two people “have isolated themselves correctly,” and there is “minimal reason to believe there could be even more spread,” Zahawi added.

Contract tracers will contact all passengers of Swiss Air flight LX318 from São Paulo via Zurich, which landed in London on February 10. They will all be tested at home, PHE said.

The flight landed days before the UK imposed a 10-day quarantine system at its own expense. However, it came nearly a month after the UK banned direct flights from Brazil. But British nationals and residents have been able to return via indirect routes.
The deputy leader of the opposition party, Angela Rayner, said the spread of the P.1 variant was “more evidence that failure to implement hotel quarantine was reckless and dangerous”. in a message on Twitter.
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“The constant refusal to establish a comprehensive system exposes us to mutations and new variants entering our country from abroad. The same mistakes over and over,” she added.

The P.1 variant is suspected of sparking a resurgence of viral spread in Brazil. It was found in 42% of specimens in a study conducted in Manaus, and cases have since surfaced in the US and Japan.

The P.1 variant shares mutations with the variant identified in South Africa, which could mean it is more contagious and can help evade vaccines. “It is possible that this variant is less responsive to current vaccines, but more work is needed to understand this,” PHE said Sunday.

“Recent reports from Manaus in Brazil, where the P.1 variant is fueling a wave of infections, suggest that this variant is responsible for re-infecting individuals previously infected with another variant of the virus,” said Lawrence Young, a professor. of molecular oncology at Warwick Medical School, said in a press release from Britain’s Science Media Center.

“That is why it is even more important to make every effort to stop the spread of this virus and all other variants, including strict border controls and an efficient testing, tracing and isolation system,” he said.

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