After a closely monitored analysis of infections in England showed the variant is becoming more prevalent just ahead of the next major easing of lockdown restrictions, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Thursday he was "anxious" about a rise in the UK of the coronavirus variant first detected in India.
Johnson added: "It is a variant of concern, we are anxious about it."
"We want to make sure we take all the prudential, cautious steps now that we could take, so there are meetings going on today to consider exactly what we need to do. There is a range of things we could do, we are ruling nothing out," Johnson said.
According to Imperial College London's latest evaluation, total cases have dropped to their lowest level since August as a result of a tight lockdown and a strong vaccine rollout. The Indian version, on the other hand, should be closely monitored, according to the study.
The Indian form was detected in 7.7% of the 127,000 cases examined between April 15 and May 3 in the so-called REACT analysis, which was designated "of concern" because it might be more transmissible.
Professor Steven Riley of Imperial College said that while it's unclear whether the Indian variant is more transmissible, "this is a risk."
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