Where will door to door testing for the new South African variant take place?

A "two-week sprint" to test everyone living in eight UK hotspots for the coronavirus South African variant has been launched.

The door-to-door testing is being kickstarted after cases of the mutation were found in different regions across the country including Hertfordshire and Surrey.

Health officials said 11 people had been identified over the last five or six days who have tested positive for the variant, but who have no links to travel.

Public Health England also identified 105 cases of the Covid-19 variant first identified in South Africa since December 22 and all cases and their contacts have been contacted and told to self-isolate.

The door-to-door testing is being kickstarted after cases of the mutation were found in different regions across the country including Hertfordshire and Surrey.
PA

Where will the testing centres be?

The surge in testing supports existing extensive testing already in place, and will take place in affected areas. Working in partnership with local authorities, enhanced testing and sequencing will be targeted within specific postcode areas. 

These postcodes are London (W7, N17, CR4); West Midlands (WS2); East of England (EN10); South East (ME15, GU21); North West (PR9).  This includes Hanwell,Tottenham and Mitcham in London; Walsall in the West Midlands; Broxbourne, Hertfordshire; Maidstone, Kent; Woking, Surrey; and Southport, Merseyside. 

What has the Government said?

Health secretary Matt Hancock said: “It is vital that we do all we can to stop transmission of this variant and I strongly urge everyone in these areas to get tested, whether you have symptoms or not.

"The best way to stop the spread of the virus – including new variants - is to stay at home and follow the restrictions in place. Until more people are vaccinated this is the only way we will control the spread of the virus."

Every person over the age of 16 living in these locations is strongly encouraged to take a Covid test this week, whether they are showing symptoms or not.

How will it all work?

Mobile Testing Units will be deployed offering PCR testing to people without symptoms who have to leave their home for work or essential reasons, with local authorities encouraging people to get tested in the area by providing additional home test kits.

People with symptoms should book a test in the usual way and people without symptoms should visit their Local Authority website for more information.

All samples are to be fast-tracked through England’s testing infrastructure and those that return a positive result will then be sequenced to identify which form of the coronavirus was responsible for the infection.

Will vaccines work on the SA variant?

Although early data suggested the variant may reduce the effectiveness of two of the Covid vaccines, Novavax reported midstage trial results on Thursday that showed its vaccine was 50% effective overall at preventing the disease among people in South Africa.

That compared with late-stage results from the United Kingdom, in which the vaccine was up to 89.3% effective at preventing it.

On Friday, J&J said a single shot of its coronavirus vaccine was 66% effective overall in a massive trial across three continents.

But there were wide differences by region.

In the United States, where the South African variant was first reported this week, efficacy reached 72%, compared with just 57% in South Africa, where the new variant, known as B 1.351, made up 95% of the COVID-19 cases reported in the trial.

“It’s a different pandemic now,” said Dr. Dan Barouch, a researcher at Harvard University Medical School’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston who helped develop the J&J vaccine.

"We're confident that all the vaccines we're using provide a high degree of immunity and protection against all variants," he said.

Dr Alison Barnett, regional director at Public Health England South East, said: "The most important thing is that people continue to follow the guidance that is in place - limit your number of contacts, wash your hands regularly and thoroughly, keep your distance and cover your face. If you test positive by any method, you must isolate to stop the spread of the virus."

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