The end of the lockdown in England next month has been plunged into jeopardy after Boris Johnson warned the surge of the Indian Covid-19 variant had created "the risk of disruption and delay". Minutes after the comments, the Sage advisory group revealed the "realistic possibility" that the Indian variant could be as much as "50 per cent more transmissible" than the UK strain. And Layla Moran, chair of the all-party parliamentary group on coronavirus, said: "Boris Johnson must take responsibility for the failure to prevent the Indian variant taking root in the UK. Scientists do not know for certain if the Indian variant has significantly increased transmissibility -- or to what degree it eludes the immunity to the virus provided by vaccines. Chris Whitty, England’s chief medical officer, warned the Indian variant was poised to replace the Kent variant -- which caused the devastating Covid surge after Christmas -- as the most common strain.

Source: Irish Independent May 15, 2021 10:06 UTC