South African Covid variant 'not present in Wiltshire'

The new, more infectious mutation of the virus is highly transmissible and alongside the Kent variant, it has been responsible for driving up the number of cases and deaths in the second wave of the pandemic.

But according to the director for public health at Wiltshire Council, no infections relating to this variant have been picked up in the area so far.

Speaking at a media briefing on Tuesday February 9, Kate Blackburn said: "The Government confirmed yesterday that there were 147 cases of the South African variant in the UK. None of these are in Wiltshire.

"The Government has been implementing surge testing in the affected areas to nullify the spread as much as possible - that's very much around both surveillance of what's happening with the disease but also containment to try to stop that from spreading any further."

Despite this, Mrs Blackburn stressed that it is still "vital" that people keep sticking to the rules.

She said: "Regardless of what the variant is, the key message remains the same as to how you can protect yourself from this virus [and] how you can protect your loved ones so people should stay at home as much as possible only leaving if it's necessary such as to pick up vital supplies."

The new variant, first detected in Kent, is now thought to be the dominant strain in the UK. 

A mutation from the South African and Brazilian variant has also been detected in some UK cases.

The lower the number of cases before lockdown restrictions are eased, the less likely it is for new coronavirus mutations to emerge, scientists say.

New rules have been announced for international travellers to prevent new, undiscovered, variants from being brought into the UK.

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