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UK detects COVID-19 cases of variant from India in 86 districts

2,323 cases of the variant have been reported

matt-hancock-health-secretary-reuters Britain's Health Secretary Matt Hancock, speaks on further restrictions to be put in place due to the ongoing coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic at a news conference inside 10 Downing Street in London, Britain December 23, 2020 | Kirsty Wigglesworth/Pool via REUTERS

UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock said the highly transmissible coronavirus variant from India, the B.1.617 variant, has been found in 86 districts across the UK and urged people to be cautious while meeting friends indoors. He added that 2,323 cases of the variant have been reported. Hancock said it is essential that people get vaccinated. Bedford, Blackburn and Bolton are current hotspots of the B.1.617 variant.

As of now, 20 million adult Britons have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Monday onwards, travel opened up for Britons to countries on the 'green' list including Portugal and Israel. Citizens may visit countries on the 'amber' and 'red' list but would need to follow quarantine protocols in accordance. Ministers, however, have been discouraging people not to visit nations listed on the 'amber' and 'red' lists. 

Jeremy Hunt, a Conservative member of Parliament and former health secretary, called for "absolute clarity" on the rules, a Bloomberg report reads. 

Hancock in the meantime also told Sky News that based on preliminary data from Oxford University, the government had a "high degree of confidence" that vaccines would stand up to the B1.617.2 variant. 

Britain had been badly affected by the virus when it first struck in March 2020 but managed to mitigate its spread with strict lockdown measures and a relatively quick rollout of vaccines. 

Hancock also warned that the variant from India  "spread like wildfire amongst the unvaccinated groups". Family and friends will be allowed to meet indoors with some restrictions in place and indoor hospitality and indoor entertainment such as cinemas, museums and sports venues are to open their doors for the first time in months.

Hancock added that it would be a problem if the variant from India is 50 per cent more transmissible than the variant from Britain. as of May 11, the B.1.617 variant had been detected in 44 countries a CNBC report reads.

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