Chris Whitty confirms new Covid strain IS more contagious

Chris Whitty has this afternoon confirmed that a new mutant strain of coronavirus is more contagious – as he warns that cases are ‘rapidly rising’ in the South East.

England’s chief medical officer revealed that the virus variant does ‘spread more quickly’ than previous strains.

But he stressed there is nothing to suggest that it is more deadly or resistant to a vaccine.

His statement comes as cases continue to soar in the South East – with Kent seeing 1,709 positive tests yesterday alone.

Cases in the county have been rising since the start of England’s second lockdown with the seven-day average increasing from 90.1 on October 5 to 1,306.4 on December 11.

And Kent’s daily death toll has followed a similar trajectory with 21 reported on December 11 compared to none on October 5.

Vast swathes of the South East were thrust into Tier 3 on Wednesday.

In a statement this afternoon, Professor Whitty said: ‘As announced on Monday, the UK has identified a new variant of Covid-19 through Public Health England’s genomic surveillance.

‘As a result of the rapid spread of the new variant, preliminary modelling data and rapidly rising incidence rates in the South East, the New and Emerging Respiratory Virus Threats Advisory Group (NERVTAG) now consider that the new strain can spread more quickly.

‘We have alerted the World Health Organisation and are continuing to analyse the available data to improve our understanding.

‘There is no current evidence to suggest the new strain causes a higher mortality rate or that it affects vaccines and treatments although urgent work is underway to confirm this.

‘Given this latest development it is now more vital than ever that the public continue to take action in their area to reduce transmission.’

His warning followed experiments from Wiltshire’s Porton Down laboratory which found that the new variant is 50 per cent more contagious than any strain detected before.

Overall, the South East has seen a rise in cases starting in September when the average seven-day case load was 156.4. On December 11, this number was at 3,804.4.

Professor Whitty’s statement as Boris Johnson stands on the brink of cancelling Christmas for millions of people over fears about the ‘highly contagious’ coronavirus variant.

The PM has summoned an emergency 4pm press conference this afternoon after holding crisis talks with Cabinet – with signs that swathes of the home counties, including London, will be shifted up to a new ‘Tier 4’.

That bracket will potentially include closing non-essential shops and travel restrictions including ‘stay at home’ order for Christmas Day itself, even though Mr Johnson insisted just days ago that five-day festive ‘bubbles’ would go ahead. 

The extraordinary U-turn would cause fury among families that have already made plans, booked travel and bought food for reunions. 

It follows talks between ministers on how to contain the mutant strain, which is so far thought to have been confined largely to the South East. The PM also spoke to the cabinet on a phone call shortly after 1pm, while Michael Gove has held talks with the devolved administrations.

Speculation had already been mounting that England will have to follow Wales and Northern Ireland in announcing a draconian crackdown for after Christmas. 

The Welsh government broke ranks with the rest of the UK by scaling back Christmas bubbles, in effect from December 23 to 27, from three to two households. It is thought bubbles will still be permitted in Tiers 1-3 in England.