Covid: Three cases of Indian variant found in Leicester
Three cases of the Indian variant of ทดลองเล่นslotxo coronavirus have been found in Leicester, health officials have confirmed.
Ivan Browne, the city's public health director, said Public Health England (PHE) had notified him of the cases.
He said they were linked to travel from India, and further testing was being carried out at a city school.
More than 100 cases have been found in the UK and officials say its genetic changes might make it more contagious.
Experts said there was not yet enough data to call the Indian variant a "variant of concern" - a term used to describe the UK, Brazilian
and South African variants.
Prof Browne said the cases required "investigation and follow-up".
Leicester currently has the eighth highest number of infections of Covid-19 compared with other regions in England, with a rate of 55 per
100,000 cases.
The city council said the variant was identified after a process known as sequencing was carried out on tests taken by returning travellers
who had tested positive, and on follow-up tests issued to their contacts.
Surge testing or mass testing of communities is not currently required as the cases are all linked to travel, the authority said.
PHE told the BBC there were eight other cases of the Indian variant in the East Midlands in the week up to 21 April, and all had been
linked to international travel.
Prof Browne said he was told about the three Leicester cases on Sunday and PHE had already been in touch with the people concerned
and some of their contacts.
He said two of the three cases were people who had travelled themselves, and the third was one of their partners.
"Since then we have been working closely with PHE to ensure that all close contacts of those affected are identified and advised to
self-isolate for 10 days," he said.
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